Sabotaging the deal: The way relational concerns undermine negotiators

When Less Is More: How Complexity Impacts Goal Setting, Judgment Accuracy, and Deals in Negotiation

In two studies, we examine how objective complexity-in terms of numbers of negotiable issues-affects negotiators' aspirations, perceptions, actions, and ultimately, the quality of agreements they reach. We hypothesized and found that when negotiators had a greater number of issues to resolve, they were less ambitious for their own outcomes and developed less accurate insights into their partners' interests.

Understanding response patterns in dyadic conflict: An interactive approach combining self-construal and opponent's dominance-submissiveness

Previous works on the effect of self-construal in interpersonal behaviours tend to adopt a main effect approach. The present research proposes an interactive approach in understanding two response patterns in dyadic conflict by combining self-construal and the stance of the opponent. Independent self-construal was hypothesised to be associated with a self-centred pattern of conflict response, which is characterised by taking contending responses regardless of whether the stance of the opponent is dominant or submissive. Relational self-construal was hypothesised to be associated with a tuning-in pattern of conflict response, which is characterised by showing contending responses when the opponent is submissive but yielding responses when the opponent is dominant. With trait self-construal measured and opponent's stance manipulated, Study 1 provided initial support for the hypotheses. Study 2 showed a three-way interaction effect between trait self-construal, manipulated self-construal and the opponent's stance on actual conflict responses during discussion of a scenario. The effect of self-construal manipulation was only observed among people who were low in trait independent self-construal and average in trait relational self-construal. The results pinpoint the importance of considering personal and opponent factors simultaneously in understanding the dynamics of dyadic conflict processes.