Abstract
Anger is a common cause of strained negotiations. This research investigated the effects of experiencing anger (Experiment 1) and regulating anger (Experiment 2) on ultimatum bargaining. Experiment 1 showed that relative to a control condition, angered participants proposed less fair offers and rejected more offers when bargaining with the person who angered them. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1, and additionally showed that regulating anger via reappraisal and distraction both reduced anger. However, only reappraisal effectively reduced anger for the duration of the negotiation. Participants who reappraised proposed fairer offers than those in the distraction condition, but did not differ in offers accepted. This research may have implications for what emotion regulation strategy should be employed in economic bargaining. However, future research is required to determine the most effective timing and components of reappraisal for promoting beneficial outcomes in bargaining contexts.
Highlights
Negotiations and bargaining often break down due to feelings of anger
We show that one emotion regulation strategy in particular cognitive reappraisal - can reduce anger and increase fairness in economic bargaining situations (Experiment 2)
Type I error was controlled with the false discovery rate (FDR), q(FDR)
Summary
Negotiations and bargaining often break down due to feelings of anger. Anger can cloud judgment and make it difficult to act rationally, which may cause poor economic outcomes and relationship conflict. Understanding how to regulate the experience of anger in negotiations has received little attention to date. To address this problem, we investigated the effects of experiencing and regulating anger in the latter stages of the negotiation process, using an economic bargaining game. We experimentally tested and confirmed the hypothesis that being angered adversely affects bargaining outcomes (Experiment 1). We show that one emotion regulation strategy in particular cognitive reappraisal - can reduce anger and increase fairness in economic bargaining situations (Experiment 2)
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