Rebecca Schaumberg

Rebecca Schaumberg
  • Assistant Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    3730 Walnut Street
    556 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Links: CV

Overview

Rebecca (Becky) Schaumberg is an Assistant Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches a course on negotiation. She uses social psychology and organizational behavior theory to understand the factors that promote and impede positive employee outcomes such as job performance, leadership, and effective decision-making. She is particularly interested in how these outcomes relate to self-conscious emotions (e.g., guilt), moral character, and self-reliance/autonomy.

Becky received her undergraduate degree from Carleton College and her PhD from Stanford University.  Prior to joining Wharton, she was as an Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations at NYU Stern School of Business.

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Research

Please see my  CV for a full list of publications and working papers.

  • Zhiying Ren and Rebecca Schaumberg (Under Revision), Disagreement Is a Short-Hand for Poor Listening: Why Speakers Evaluate Others’ Listening Quality Based on whether Others Agree with Them.

    Abstract: Listening to the other side is essential for communication and conflict resolution. However, even when a listener listens well, the speaker may still exclaim, “You are not listening to me!” We reason this occurs because speakers think someone who disagrees with them simply has not listened. Across seven studies with 2,090 participants, we find that speakers think a listener listened better when the listener agrees with them than when they do not. This effect emerged despite the conversation being the same and the listener signaling they understood the speaker. The effect held across communication contexts, discussions of moral or non-moral issues, and controlling for other positive impressions of the listener. We find that naïve realism explains this effect: speakers believe their views are correct, so they think listeners who agree with them can better process objective information. We discuss the implications of these findings for managing conflict and group decision-making.

Teaching

All Courses

  • LGST2910 - Negotiations

    This course examines the art and science of negotiation, with additional emphasis on conflict resolution. Students will engage in a number of simulated negotiations ranging from simple one-issue transactions to multi-party joint ventures. Through these exercises and associated readings, students explore the basic theoretical models of bargaining and have an opportunity to test and improve their negotiation skills.

  • MGMT2910 - Negotiations

    This course examines the art and science of negotiation, with additional emphasis on conflict resolution. Students will engage in a number of simulated negotiations ranging from simple one-issue transactions to multi-party joint ventures. Through these exercises and associated readings, students explore the basic theoretical models of bargaining and have an opportunity to test and improve their negotiation skills.

  • OIDD2910 - Negotiations

    This course examines the art and science of negotiation, with additional emphasis on conflict resolution. Students will engage in a number of simulated negotiations ranging from simple one-issue transactions to multi-party joint ventures. Through these exercises and associated readings, students explore the basic theoretical models of bargaining and have an opportunity to test and improve their negotiation skills.

  • OIDD2990 - Judg & Dec Making Res Im

    This class provides a high-level introduction to the field of judgment and decision making (JDM) and in-depth exposure to the process of doing research in this area. Throughout the semester you will gain hands-on experience with several different JDM research projects. You will be paired with a PhD student or faculty mentor who is working on a variety of different research studies. Each week you will be given assignments that are central to one or more of these studies, and you will be given detailed descriptions of the research projects you are contributing to and how your assignments relate to the successful completion of these projects. To complement your hands-on research experience, throughout the semester you will be assigned readings from the book Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein, which summarizes key recent ideas in the JDM literature. You will also meet as a group for an hour once every three weeks with the class's faculty supervisor and all of his or her PhD students to discuss the projects you are working on, to discuss the class readings, and to discuss your own research ideas stimulated by getting involved in various projects. Date and time to be mutually agreed upon by supervising faculty and students. the 1CU version of this course will involve approx. 10 hours of research immersion per week and a 10-page paper. The 0.5 CU version of this course will involve approx 5 hours of research immersion per week and a 5-page final paper. Please contact Professor Joseph Simmons if you are interested in enrolling in the course: jsimmo@wharton.upenn.edu

In the News

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Activity

Latest Research

Zhiying Ren and Rebecca Schaumberg (Under Revision), Disagreement Is a Short-Hand for Poor Listening: Why Speakers Evaluate Others’ Listening Quality Based on whether Others Agree with Them.
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In the News

How Shame Helps Build Office Culture

Feelings of shame are so overwhelmingly negative that they act as a positive force for setting social norms and behavior. In her latest research, Wharton’s Rebecca Schaumberg explains why managers should pay closer attention to shame.…Read More

Knowledge at Wharton - 4/18/2023
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