The Effects of Reflection and Motivational Goals on the Transfer of Skills in Integrative Negotiations

Abstract

The present research deals with teaching negotiators to improve their skills for creating value. Building upon the literature in cognitive and educational psychology, we examined the effects of reflection and of achievement motivational goals (Learning versus Performance) on the transfer of integrative negotiation skills. Participants first engaged in repeated negotiations within an unchanging market simulation and then proceeded to negotiate a more complex integrative negotiation task. We found reflection to be beneficial for learning. Experience accompanied by subsequent reflection enhanced integrative performance in the transfer task more than experience without reflection. Contrary to our expectations, participants that were assigned learning goals did not improve their performance on a transfer task compared to participants that were assigned performance goals.