gender and power effects on speech and outcomes in negotiation

How Do Powerful and Powerless Women and Men TALK in Negotiation? : 

How Do Powerful and Powerless Women and Men TALK in Negotiation? And Is It Profitable? Noa Nelson, Ilan Bronstein, Rachel Ben-ari

In this presentation : 

In this presentation Theoretical background: Gender and personality, gender and negotiation, gender and language Gender differences. Are they power differences? Present Research Model Research methods Major findings and discussion: Typical gender differences The complex role of power The role of speech in exercising vs. claiming power

Background: Gender and Personality : 

Background: Gender and Personality Instrumental Vs. Expressive traits: confidence, competitiveness, independence, aggressiveness inter-dependence, care for others, tact, sensitivity (Bem, 1974, Spence & Helmriech, 1980) Men - more instrumental than women. Women - more expressive than men.

Background: Gender Differences in Negotiation : 

Background: Gender Differences in Negotiation In attitude: Men feel more comfortable negotiating than women. In behavior: Men are more competitive and women are more collaborative. Behavior documented in general terms, Very little speech analysis. In Outcomes: Men gain more than women individually. Women reach more egalitarian agreements. Women, more than men, appreciate positive interpersonal outcomes.

Background: Gender and Language : 

Background: Gender and Language “Women speak and hear a language of connection and intimacy, while men speak and hear a language of status and independence…” (Deborah Tannen, 1990, p.42) Therefore, let’s test how women and men TALK in negotiation. “I really don’t know much about it, but I think that we should accept the offer, shouldn’t we?” “We should not accept that offer. We’ll refuse, and they’ll make a better one.”

Background: Gender or Power? : 

Background: Gender or Power? In organizational research: Gender X Power – gender matters when you don’t have power. In negotiation research: power, not gender, predicts negotiated gains. Powerful parties have more freedom to choose their tactics. But how does power interact with gender to affect negotiator’s speech?

Present Research Model : 

Present Research Model

Present Research Methods : 

Present Research Methods 140 dyads negotiated salary and employment terms, in one of four compositions: Powerful female – powerless female; Powerful female – powerless male; Powerful male – powerless female; Powerful male – powerless male. Negotiations were audio-taped and fully transcribed. Agreement details were decoded into scaled gain points, allowing comparisons.

Present Research MethodsSpeech analysis : 

Present Research MethodsSpeech analysis Verbal Rapport Assessment (Bronstein et al., in press):

Present Research MethodsNegotiation Styles : 

Dominating Collaborating Avoiding Obliging Present Research MethodsNegotiation Styles Self concern Other concern high high low compromising Passive-aggressive emotional Conflict Resolution Styles (Rahim & Bonoma, 1979, Ting-toomey & Oetzel, 2001)

Present Research Methods : 

Present Research Methods Statistical tools: Analyses of Variance. Hierarchical Linear Models, implementing the up-to-date APIM - Actor-Partner-Interdependence-Model (Cook & Kenny, 2005).

Research findings & Discussion:Gender & power effects on gains – classic interaction : 

Research findings & Discussion:Gender & power effects on gains – classic interaction Powerful negotiators gained more than their powerless opponents. Among Powerless negotiators, men gained more than women Especially when up against a powerful woman. Discussion: Power boosts gains. Men and women in power negotiate as successfully. Will power also explain gender differences in speech?

Research findings & Discussion:Gender effects on speech - Boys and Girls : 

Research findings & Discussion:Gender effects on speech - Boys and Girls Negotiation Styles: Men - more Dominating than women Women - more Obliging than men Verbal Rapport: Powerful men used more rapport-inhibiting speech than powerful women: Demands, inflexibility, refusals Interruptions, impatience Negative words and feelings Threats and contemptuous phrases Discussion: Were men exercising their power? Is aggressive speech the language of the powerful?

Research findings & Discussion:Power effects on speech – Not what You’d think : 

Research findings & Discussion:Power effects on speech – Not what You’d think Negotiation Styles: Powerful negotiators - more Collaborative, Obliging and Avoiding than their powerless opponents. Powerless negotiators - more Dominating, Passive-aggressive and Emotional than their powerful opponents. Verbal Rapport: Powerful negotiators - more offers, acceptance and flexibility. more positive and less negative words and feelings. Discussion: Dominant, aggressive speech does not reflect power. Maybe it is used to claim power.

Research findings & Discussion:What speech was profitable in which power position? : 

Research findings & Discussion:What speech was profitable in which power position? Negotiation Styles: Dominating strategy worked for powerless negotiators. All dominant strategies, worked against powerful negotiators. Compromising worked for powerful negotiators while Obliging worked against them. Discussion: support for the idea that aggressive language is useful to claim power but not to exercise existing power. If you have power, don’t overstate it. Stay in middle ground.

Research findings & Discussion:What speech was profitable in which power position? : 

Research findings & Discussion:What speech was profitable in which power position? Verbal Rapport: Rapport Inhibiting: Slowing negotiation (demands, inflexibility etc.), threats and contempt worked against powerful negotiators. Rapport Enhancing: Advancing negotiation (offers, acceptance etc.) worked against powerful negotiators. Discussion: It’s still a bad idea to overstate your power. The way powerful negotiators talk – matters more. Clearly, powerful male negotiators did not “talk better” than their female peers.

Research findings & Discussion:What speech was profitable toward whom? : 

Research findings & Discussion:What speech was profitable toward whom? Most Rapport Enhancing speech worked against negotiators only when expressed toward a man: Making offers, acceptance, flexibility; Questions, explanations and assurances; personal interest, personal exposure, compliments, apologies and general politeness. Collaborating worked for negotiators only when aimed at a woman. Discussion: did male negotiators exploit what they interpreted as weakness?

Conclusions: : 

Conclusions: Power leads to higher gains but also to more collaborative, rapport enhancing behavior. Aggressive language serves to claim power but hurts the cause of negotiators already in power. Power cannot explain typical gender differences in negotiation language: “feminine” language did not express weakness and “masculine” language did not reflect power. Male and female negotiators differ in their speech and in their response to speech, reflecting a tendency that is more innate than situational power.