From Self-Prediction to Self-Defeat: The Effect of Expecting a Competitive Opponent on Negotiator Predictions, Behaviors, and Outcomes

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of negotiators' expectations of their opponents' competitiveness on negotiators' predictions of their own behavior, their actual behaviors, and their negotiated outcomes. Study 1 examined negotiators' predictions of how they would react when faced with a very competitive versus a not competitive opponent and found that negotiators believed they would become more competitive, less cooperative, and less likely to make concessions when negotiating with a very competitive opponent. Studies 2 and 3 examined actual behaviors during a negotiation and found that negotiators who expected very competitive opponents actually became less competitive, as evidenced by setting lower, less aggressive reservation prices and agreeing to lower negotiated outcomes. Study 3 further revealed that own reservation price mediated the relationship between competitive expectations and negotiated outcomes. Finally, Study 4 examined more naturally occurring expectations in a negotiation and found that expectations of greater competitiveness were associated with lower negotiated outcomes.