What Helps Women Ask for More?: The Role of Discrete Emotions on the Initiation of Negotiation

Abstract

The current work explores the role of distinct negative emotions (anger and fear) on the propensity to negotiate. In particular, we were interested in whether emotions could alleviate the 'women don't ask' phenomenon (Babcock, Laschever, Gelfand, & Small, 2003). In a laboratory experiment, participants completed a performance task followed by an emotion induction task that induced anger, fear, or neutral emotions. Participants then had the opportunity to negotiate their payment for the experimental session. Results showed that fearful men were less likely to initiate negotiation and earned less money than men in a neutral state. Fearful women, in contrast, were more likely to initiate negotiation and earned more money than either women or men in a neutral state. No within gender differences were observed between the anger and neutral conditions.