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©2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Individual Differences II: Personality and Abilities

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Early Research on Individual Differences and Negotiation

Four explanations for contradictory and inconclusive early research:

• The effects of individual differences are subtle and elusive

• The wrong kind of tasks were investigated

• Research methods were flawed or inconsistent

• Individual difference factors were poorly conceptualized

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Eight Approaches to Studying Personality in Negotiation

1. Conflict management style

2. Social value orientation

3. Interpersonal trust

4. Self-efficacy and locus of control

5. Self-monitoring

6. Machiavellianism

7. Face threat sensitivity

8. The “Big Five” personality factors

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Conflict Management Style

• Two levels of concern underlie the five conflict management styles

– Degree of concern a party shows for his or her own outcomes

– Degree of concern the party shows for the other’s outcomes

• Two personality dimensions represent these levels of concern

– Degree of assertiveness– Degree of cooperativeness

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Five major conflict management styles:• A competing style—high on assertiveness and low

on cooperativeness• An accommodating style—low on assertiveness and

high on cooperativeness• An avoiding style—low on both assertiveness and

cooperativeness• A collaborating style—high on both assertiveness

and cooperativeness• A compromising style—moderate on both

assertiveness and cooperativeness

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Social Value Orientation

Preferences regarding the kinds of outcomes people prefer in social settings where interdependence with others is required

• Two orientations:– Proself or egoistic: primarily concerned with

personal outcomes– Prosocial or cooperative: preference for outcomes

that benefit both self and others

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Interpersonal Trust

Determined by the experiences that people have in dealing with others

• Individuals differ in levels of interpersonal trust– High trusters: believe that others will be trustworthy

and that they need to trustworthy themselves– Low trusters: believe that others cannot be trusted to

observe the rules and may feel less pressure themselves to trust others

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Self-Efficacy

A judgment about one’s ability to behave effectively

• Plays an important role in complex interpersonal behavior, including negotiation

• Higher levels of self-efficacy lead to higher outcomes and setting higher goals

• One’s perceived level of competence at negotiation may increase the likelihood that collaborative problem solving will occur

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Locus of Control

The extent to which people perceive that they have control over events that occur:– High external locus of control: attributes the cause of

events to external reasons (e.g., luck)– High internal locus of control: attributes the cause of

events to internal reasons (e.g., ability)

• In a distributive negotiation, “internals” had higher resistance points than “externals”

• Locus of control appears to influence negotiator aspirations, preferences and outcomes

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Self-Monitoring

The extent to which people are responsive to the social cues that come from the social environment

• High self-monitors:– Attentive to external, interpersonal information– Inclined to treat this information as cues to how one

should behave• Low self-monitors:

– Less attentive to external information that may cue behavior,

– Guided more in their behavioral choices by inner, personal feelings

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Machiavellianism

• Those scoring high in Machiavellianism:– Tend to be cynical about others’ motives– More likely to behave unaltruistically and

unsympathetically – Less willing to change their convictions

under social pressure– More likely to tolerate behavior that violates

social norms– More inclined to advocate the use of

deception interpersonally

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Face Threat Sensitivity

The concept of “face” refers to the value people place on their public image or reputation

• Some people are more susceptible to reacting in a negative way to threats to face

• Threats to one’s image will make a negotiator competitive in a situation that might otherwise benefit from cooperative behavior

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The "Big Five" Personality Factors

• Extraversion –sociable, assertive, talkative• Agreeableness –flexible, cooperative, trusting

• Conscientiousness –responsible, organized, achievement oriented

• Emotional stability –secure, confident, not anxious

• Openness –imaginative, broad-minded, curious

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The "Big Five" Personality Factors

• Negotiators higher in extraversion and agreeableness were more likely to do worse in distributive bargaining

• Effects of personality were lessened when negotiators had high aspirations for their own performance

• These elements of personality did not affect how well negotiators did in complex integrative bargaining

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Abilities in Negotiation

Three kinds of abilities and negotiation behavior:

• Cognitive ability• Emotional intelligence• Perspective-taking ability

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Cognitive Ability

Synonymous with the general notion of intelligence, cognitive ability has been shown to influence:– Reasoning – Decision making– Information processing capacity– Learning– Adaptability to change, particularly in novel

or complex situations

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Emotional Intelligence

Encompassing a set of discrete but related abilities: Perceiving and expressing emotion accurately Accessing emotion in facilitating thought Comprehending and analyzing emotion Regulating appropriately one’s own emotions and

those of others

• Empirical research studies of its role have yet to appear in the academic literature

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Perspective-Taking Ability

“A negotiator’s capacity to understand the other party’s point of view during a negotiation and thereby to predict the other party’s strategies and tactics”

• Negotiators with higher perspective-taking ability – Negotiated contracts of higher value– Appear to be able to increase the concessions that the

other party is willing to make

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Behaviors of Superior Negotiators

During prenegotiation planning:• Consider more outcome options for the issues being discussed• Spend more time looking for areas of common ground

• Think more about the long-term consequences of different issues

• Prepare goals around ranges rather than fixed points• Do not form plans into strict, sequential order

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During face-to-face bargaining• Make fewer immediate counterproposals• Are less likely to describe offers in glowingly positive terms• Avoid defend-attack cycles• Use behavioral labeling, except when disagreeing• Ask more questions, especially to test understanding• Summarize compactly the progress made in the negotiation• Do not dilute arguments by including weak reasons when

trying to persuade the other party

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During postnegotiation review:

• Reserve time to review what is learned from the negotiation

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