1. Perception, Cognition, and Emotion in Negotiation
The basic building blocks of all social encounters are:
Perception
Cognition
Framing
Cognitive biases
Emotion
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2. Perception Perception is:
The process by which individuals connect to their environment.
A complex physical and psychological process
A “sense-making” process
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3. The Process of Perception
The process of ascribing meaning to messages and events is strongly influenced by the perceiver’s current state of mind, role, and comprehension of earlier communications
People interpret their environment in order to respond appropriately
The complexity of environments makes it impossible to process all of the information
People develop shortcuts to process information and these shortcuts create perceptual errors
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4. Perceptual Distortion
Four major perceptual errors:
Stereotyping
Halo effects
Selective perception
Projection
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5. Stereotyping and Halo Effects
Is a very common distortion
Occurs when an individual assigns attributes to another solely on the basis of the other’s membership in a particular social or demographic category
Halo effects:
Are similar to stereotypes
Occur when an individual generalizes about a variety of attributes based on the knowledge of one attribute of an individual
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6. Selective Perception and Projection
Perpetuates stereotypes or halo effects
The perceiver singles out information that supports a prior belief but filters out contrary information
Projection:
Arises out of a need to protect one’s own self-concept
People assign to others the characteristics or feelings that they possess themselves
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7. Framing
Frames:
Represent the subjective mechanism through which people evaluate and make sense out of situations
Lead people to pursue or avoid subsequent actions
Focus, shape and organize the world around us
Make sense of complex realities
Define a person, event or process
Impart meaning and significance
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8. Types of Frames Substantive Outcome Aspiration Process Identity
Characterization
Loss-Gain
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9. How Frames Work in Negotiation
Negotiators can use more than one frame
Mismatches in frames between parties are sources of conflict
Particular types of frames may lead to particular types of arguments
Specific frames may be likely to be used with certain types of issues
Parties are likely to assume a particular frame because of various factors
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10. The Frame of an Issue Changes as the Negotiation Evolves
Negotiators tend to argue for stock issues or concerns that are raised every time the parties negotiate
Each party attempts to make the best possible case for his or her preferred position or perspective
Frames may define major shifts and transitions in a complex overall negotiation
Multiple agenda items operate to shape issue development
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11. Some Advice about Problem Framing for Negotiators
Frames shape what the parties define as the key issues and how they talk about them
Both parties have frames
Frames are controllable, at least to some degree
Conversations change and transform frames in ways negotiators may not be able to predict but may be able to control
Certain frames are more likely than others to lead to certain types of processes and outcomes
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12. Cognitive Biases in Negotiation
Negotiators have a tendency to make systematic errors when they process information. These errors, collectively labeled cognitive biases, tend to impede negotiator performance.
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13. Irrational Escalation of Commitment and Mythical Fixed-Pie Beliefs
Negotiators maintain commitment to a course of action even when that commitment constitutes irrational behavior
Mythical fixed-pie beliefs
Negotiators assume that all negotiations (not just some) involve a fixed pie
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14. Anchoring and Adjustment and Issue Framing and Risk
The effect of the standard (anchor) against which subsequent adjustments (gains or losses) are measured
The anchor might be based on faulty or incomplete information, thus be misleading
Issue framing and risk
Frames can lead people to seek, avoid, or be neutral about risk in decision making and negotiation
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15. Availability of Information and the Winner’s Curse
Operates when information that is presented in vivid or attention-getting ways becomes easy to recall.
Becomes central and critical in evaluating events and options
The winner’s curse
The tendency to settle quickly on an item and then subsequently feel discomfort about a win that comes too easily
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16. Overconfidence and the Law of Small Numbers
The tendency of negotiators to believe that their ability to be correct or accurate is greater than is actually true
The law of small numbers
The tendency of people to draw conclusions from small sample sizes
The smaller sample, the greater the possibility that past lessons will be erroneously used to infer what will happen in the future
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17. Self-Serving Biases and Endowment Effect
People often explain another person’s behavior by making attributions, either to the person or to the situation
The tendency, known as fundamental attribution error, is to:
Overestimate the role of personal or internal factors
Underestimate the role of situational or external factors
Endowment effect
The tendency to overvalue something you own or believe you possess
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18. Emotions
Negative emotions can create an unpleasant environment and increase a conflict that may exist