Shimul Melwani

The research interests of Shimul Melwani meet at the intersection of emotions and interpersonal processes in organizations. She is conducting groundbreaking research on the influence of gossip – the negative and positive consequences of initiating and participating in it – for individuals, dyads and groups in the workplace.

She also is examining the interpersonal influence of discrete emotions on organizationally relevant outcomes. By studying the interpersonal effects of discrete emotions, such as contempt, compassion and anger in a series of different work contexts, her research provides a richer picture of how emotions influence attributions, relationships and performance of both those expressing emotions as well as perceiving them. In related research, Dr. Melwani is exploring the role of implicit processes that occur outside of people’s conscious awareness on critical workplace outcomes such as creativity and performance.

Her research has appeared in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Applied Psychology and Psychological Science.

Dr. Melwani teaches courses on global leadership and organizational behavior to undergraduate and graduate students.

She is an award-winning teacher. She received the 2021 Weatherspoon Award for Excellence in Teaching in the PhD Program, the 2018 Weatherspoon Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Undergraduate Business Program, and Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, a University award.

She received her PhD and master’s degree in management and organizational behavior from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She received a master’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Mumbai.

Areas of Expertise

• emotions
• gossip
• creativity
• leadership
• organizational behavior
• workplace issues