Sheena Iyengar
Encyclopedia
Sheena Iyengar is the inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business in the Management Division at Columbia Business School
and the Research Director at the Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business. She is known for her research on choice
.
, Canada
in 1969. Her parents had emigrated there from Delhi
, India
. In 1972, Iyengar’s family moved to Flushing, Queens
, where her father helped establish the first permanent Sikh temple; and in 1979, the family moved to Elmwood Park, New Jersey
. Iyengar grew up in a bicultural environment, observing the tenets of Sikhism with her family but partaking in American culture outside of the home.
When Iyengar was three years old, she was diagnosed with a rare form of retinitis pigmentosa
, an inherited disease of retinal degeneration. By 6th grade, Iyengar had lost the ability to read, and by 11th grade, she had lost her sight entirely and could only perceive light. Iyengar’s life had also taken another turn in high school; when she was 13, her father died of a heart attack.
In Iyengar’s book, The Art of Choosing, she explains how these seemingly random events and external influences, which shaped her life, led her to become interested in choice:
In 1992, Sheena Iyengar graduated from the University of Pennsylvania
with a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School of Business
and a B.A. in psychology with a minor in English from the College of Arts and Sciences. She then earned her Ph.D. in social psychology from Stanford University
in 1997. The following year, her dissertation, “Choice and its Discontents,” which asks the question: are there circumstances in which people are better off when they have their choices limited or entirely removed, received the prestigious Best Dissertation Award for 1998 from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology.
for Social Scientists for her work on cultural differences in decision making. Her research appears in academic journals of a wide range of disciplines such as economics, psychology, management, and marketing. Not only is her work acclaimed in academia, but also it has attracted attention in other venues, as well. Her research has been cited in such periodicals as Fortune
and Time
magazines, the New York Times
, the Los Angeles Times
, and the Wall Street Journal
, as well as on National Public Radio and in books such as Malcolm Gladwell
’s Blink
and The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. Iyengar has written a book, The Art of Choosing, which explores the mysteries of choice in everyday life.
Iyengar has taught courses in Management at Columbia Business School since 1998. Specifically, she has taught courses in Globalization, Leadership, Entrepreneurial Creativity, and Decision Making to MBAs, Executive MBAs, and Executives, including at the World Economics Forum
in Geneva
, Switzerland
. In addition, her course on Leadership earned her an Innovation in the Teaching Curriculum award from Columbia Business School.
Sheena Iyengar is an Academic Member of the Behavioral Finance Forum, a Fellow at the Applied Statistics Center at Columbia University, an Oversight Board Member at the ING
Institute for Retirement Research, and an Institute Fellow at TIAA-CREF
. She has previously been a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study
and has received grants from such institutions as The Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business, Citigroup
Behavioral Sciences Research Council, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Science Foundation
.
Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School is the business school of Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1916 to provide business training and professional preparation for undergraduate and graduate Columbia University students...
and the Research Director at the Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business. She is known for her research on choice
Choice
Choice consists of the mental process of judging the merits of multiple options and selecting one of them. While a choice can be made between imagined options , often a choice is made between real options, and followed by the corresponding action...
.
Biography
Sheena Iyengar was born in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1969. Her parents had emigrated there from Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. In 1972, Iyengar’s family moved to Flushing, Queens
Flushing, Queens
Flushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, east of Manhattan.Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City...
, where her father helped establish the first permanent Sikh temple; and in 1979, the family moved to Elmwood Park, New Jersey
Elmwood Park, New Jersey
Elmwood Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 19,403....
. Iyengar grew up in a bicultural environment, observing the tenets of Sikhism with her family but partaking in American culture outside of the home.
When Iyengar was three years old, she was diagnosed with a rare form of retinitis pigmentosa
Retinitis pigmentosa
Retinitis pigmentosa is a group of genetic eye conditions that leads to incurable blindness. In the progression of symptoms for RP, night blindness generally precedes tunnel vision by years or even decades. Many people with RP do not become legally blind until their 40s or 50s and retain some...
, an inherited disease of retinal degeneration. By 6th grade, Iyengar had lost the ability to read, and by 11th grade, she had lost her sight entirely and could only perceive light. Iyengar’s life had also taken another turn in high school; when she was 13, her father died of a heart attack.
In Iyengar’s book, The Art of Choosing, she explains how these seemingly random events and external influences, which shaped her life, led her to become interested in choice:
- "My parents had chosen to come to this country, but they had also chosen to hold on to as much of India as possible. They lived among other Sikhs, followed closely the tenets of their religion, and taught me the value of obedience. What to eat, wear, study, and later on, where to work and whom to marry—I was to allow these to be determined by the rules of Sikhism and by my family’s wishes. But in public school I learned that it was not only natural but desirable that I should make my own decisions. It was not a matter of cultural background or personality or abilities; it was simply what was true and right. For a blind Sikh girl otherwise subject to so many restrictions, this was a very powerful idea. I could have thought of my life as already written, which would have been more in line with my parents’ views. Or I could have thought of it as a series of accidents beyond my control, which was one way to account for my blindness and my father’s death. However, it seemed much more promising to think of it in terms of choice, in terms of what was still possible and what I could make happen." (Iyengar, 2010, pp. xi-xii).
In 1992, Sheena Iyengar graduated from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
with a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School of Business
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
and a B.A. in psychology with a minor in English from the College of Arts and Sciences. She then earned her Ph.D. in social psychology from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1997. The following year, her dissertation, “Choice and its Discontents,” which asks the question: are there circumstances in which people are better off when they have their choices limited or entirely removed, received the prestigious Best Dissertation Award for 1998 from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology.
Academic career
Iyengar's focal line of research concerns choosing, and she has been studying choice for two decades. This work, as well as her work on globalization, has earned Iyengar much recognition. In 2002, she was the recipient of the Presidential Early Career AwardPECASE
The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. The White House, following recommendations from participating agencies,...
for Social Scientists for her work on cultural differences in decision making. Her research appears in academic journals of a wide range of disciplines such as economics, psychology, management, and marketing. Not only is her work acclaimed in academia, but also it has attracted attention in other venues, as well. Her research has been cited in such periodicals as Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
and Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazines, the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, and the Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, as well as on National Public Radio and in books such as Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell, CM is a Canadian journalist, bestselling author, and speaker. He is currently based in New York City and has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996...
’s Blink
Blink (book)
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is a 2005 book by Malcolm Gladwell. It presents in popular science format research from psychology and behavioral economics on the adaptive unconscious; mental processes that work rapidly and automatically from relatively little information...
and The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. Iyengar has written a book, The Art of Choosing, which explores the mysteries of choice in everyday life.
Iyengar has taught courses in Management at Columbia Business School since 1998. Specifically, she has taught courses in Globalization, Leadership, Entrepreneurial Creativity, and Decision Making to MBAs, Executive MBAs, and Executives, including at the World Economics Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. In addition, her course on Leadership earned her an Innovation in the Teaching Curriculum award from Columbia Business School.
Sheena Iyengar is an Academic Member of the Behavioral Finance Forum, a Fellow at the Applied Statistics Center at Columbia University, an Oversight Board Member at the ING
ING Group
The ING Group is a global financial institution offering retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, asset management, and insurance services. ING is the Dutch member of the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, a cooperative consortium of 11 prominent European banks...
Institute for Retirement Research, and an Institute Fellow at TIAA-CREF
TIAA-CREF
Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading retirement provider for people who work in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields...
. She has previously been a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
and has received grants from such institutions as The Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business, Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
Behavioral Sciences Research Council, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
.
Published works
- Tragic Choices: Autonomy and Emotional Response to Medical Decisions
- The Mere Categorization Effect: How the Presence of Categories Increases Choosers' Perceptions of Assortment Variety and Outcome Satisfaction
- Gender Differences in Mate Selection: Evidence from a Speed Dating Experiment
- Doing Better but Feeling Worse: Looking for the "Best" Job Undermines Satisfaction
- How Much Choice is Too Much? Contributions to 401(k) Retirement Plans
- The Psychological Pleasure and Pain of Choosing: When People Prefer Choosing at the Cost of Subsequent Outcome Satisfaction
- When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?
- Rethinking the Value of Choice: A Cultural Perspective on Intrinsic Motivation
- Optimism and Fundamentalism
- Order in Product Customization Decisions: Evidence from Field Experiments
- Medium of Exchange Matters: What's Fair for Goods Is Unfair for Money
- The Art of Choosing (2010)
Awards and Honors
| Title | Organization | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher's Award for Excellence | India Abroad | June 2011 |
| Honoree | Sikh Centennial Gala | April 2011 |
| Gold Medal in General Business & Economics | Axiom Business Book Awards | March 2011 |
| Top Ten Business & Investing Books of 2010 | Amazon.com | November 2010 |
| Business Book of the Year 2010 Shortlist | Financial Times and Goldman Sachs | September 2010 |
| Innovation in the Curriculum Teaching Award School (Group Award) | Columbia Business School | Fall 2005 |
| Presidential Early Career Award for Social Scientists | Executive Office of the President Office of Science and Technology Policy | January 2002 |
| Young Investigator Career Award | National Science Foundation | July 2001 |
| Best Dissertation Award | Society for Experimental Social Psychology | October 1998 |
Fellowships
| Title | Organization | Incumbency |
|---|---|---|
| Fellow | Society for Personality and Social Psychology | 2011-Present |
| Faculty Advisory Committee Member & Research Director | Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business | 2009-Present |
| Advisory Board Member | ING Institute for Retirement Research | 2008-Present |
| Fellow | Applied Statistics Center at Columbia University | 2008-Present |
| Institute Fellow | TIAA-CREF Institute | August 2007-Present |
| Academic Member | Behavioral Finance Forum | 2007-Present |
| Invited Fellow | Institute for Advanced Study | 2005-2006 |
See also
- Decision TheoryDecision theoryDecision theory in economics, psychology, philosophy, mathematics, and statistics is concerned with identifying the values, uncertainties and other issues relevant in a given decision, its rationality, and the resulting optimal decision...
- Choice OverloadChoice overloadIn Social Psychology theory, choice overload is implicated in research into situations where people are confronted with many choices versus just a few choices. These findings have results that run counter to the popular notion that more choice is better...
- Cultural identityCultural identityCultural identity is the identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as one is influenced by one's belonging to a group or culture. Cultural identity is similar to and has overlaps with, but is not synonymous with, identity politics....
- Social PsychologySocial psychologySocial psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...