|
Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
|
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, Vol. 7, No. 1,
5-18 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/1368430204039970
© 2004 SAGE Publications
Persuasive Arguments and Beating Around the Bush in Negotiations
Fieke Harinck
University of Amsterdam
Individuals in negotiations often do not talk about their reasons to aim for a certain outcome and design their arguments in such a way that their reasons are unclear to the other party. Three experiments examined the occurrence and the underlying motive for this ‘beating around the bush’ as a function of the conflict issue—conflicting interests, conflicting ideas about intellective problems or conflicting ideas about evaluative problems. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that beating around the bush occurred more frequently in (a specific instance of) conflict of interest than in intellective or evaluative conflict. Experiment 3 suggests that providing arguments for one’s position in terms of self-interest is considered honest but not very smart or strategic.
Key Words: conflict issues • negotiation • persuasive arguments • self-interest
References
- Brehmer, B. (1976). Social judgment theory and the analysis of interpersonal conflict . Psychological Bulletin, 83, 985–1003 .[CrossRef]
- Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales . Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 37–46 .[CrossRef][ISI]
- Cosier, R. A., & Rose, G. L. (1977). Cognitive conflict and goal conflict effects on task performance . Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 19, 378–391 .[CrossRef]
- De Dreu, C. K. W., Giebels, E., & Van de Vliert, E. (1998). Social motives and trust in integrative negotiation: The disruptive effects of punitive capability . Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 408–422 .[CrossRef]
- De Dreu, C. K. W., Harinck, F., & Van Vianen, A. E. M. (1999). Conflict and performance in groups and organizations. In C. L. Cooper & I. Robertson (Eds.), International review of industrial and organizational psychology(Vol. 14, pp. 369–414). Chichester, UK: Wiley .
- De Dreu, C. K. W., Weingart, L. R., & Kwon, S. (2000). Influence of social motives on integrative negotiation: A meta-analytical review and test of two theories . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 889–905 .[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
- Druckman, D. (1994). Determinants of compromising behavior in negotiation . Journal of Conflict Resolution, 38, 507–556 .[Abstract]
- Druckman, D., Rozelle, R., & Zechmeister, K. (1977). Conflict of interest and value dissensus: Two perspectives. In D. Druckman (Ed.), Negotiations: Social-psychological perspectives(pp. 105–131). Beverley Hills, CA: Sage .
- Festinger, L. (1950). Informal social communication . Psychological Review, 57, 271–282 .[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
- Fisher, R., & Ury, W. (1981). Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in. Boston: Houghton Mifflin .
- Gergen, K. J., & Gergen, M. M. (1986). Social psychology(2nd ed.). New York: Springer-Verlag .
- Harinck, F., De Dreu, C. K. W., & Van Vianen, A. E. M. (2000). The impact of conflict issues on fixedpie perceptions, problem solving and integrative outcomes in negotiation . Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 81, 329–358 .[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
- Hegtvedt, K. A., & Cook, K. S. (1987). The role of justice in conflict situations . Advances in Group Processes, 4, 109–136 .
- Kelley, H. H., & Thibaut, J. W. (1969). Group problem solving. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology(pp. 1–101). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley .
- Kenny, D. A., & La Voie, L. (1985). Separating individual and group effects . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 339–348 .[CrossRef]
- Keough, C. M. (1992). Bargaining arguments and argumentative bargainers. In L. L. Putnam & M. E. Roloff (Eds.), Communication and negotiation(pp. 109–127). Newbury Park, CA: Sage .
- Lax, D. A., & Sebenius, J. K. (1986). The manager as negotiator: Bargaining for cooperation and competitive gain. New York: Free Press .
- Leventhal, G. S. (1980). What should be done with equity theory? New approaches to the study of fairness in social relationships. In K. J. Gergen, M. S. Greenberg, & R. H. Willis (Eds.), Social exchange—Advances in theory and research(pp. 92–131). New York: Plenum Press .
- Levine, J. M., & Thompson, L. (1996). Conflict in groups. In E. T. Higgins & A. W. Kruglanski (Eds.), Social psychology. Handbook of principles(pp. 745–767). New York: Guildford Press .
- Lewicki, R. J. (1983). Lying and deception: A behavioral model. In M. H. Bazerman & R. J. Lewicki (Eds.), Negotiating in organizations. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage .
- Maier, N. R. F. (1963). Problem-solving discussions and conferences: Leadership methods and skills. New York: McGraw-Hill .
- Miller, D. T., & Ratner, R. K. (1996). The power of the myth of self-interest. In L. Montada & M. J. Lerner (Eds.), Current societal concerns about justice(pp. 25–48). New York: Plenum Press .
- Miller, D. T., & Ratner, R. K. (1998). The disparity between the actual and assumed power of selfinterest . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 53–62 .[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
- Montada, L. (1996). Tradeoffs between justice and self-interest. In L. Montada & M. J. Lerner (Eds.), Current societal concerns about justice(pp. 259–275). New York: Plenum Press .
- O’Connor, K. M., & Carnevale, P. J. (1997). A nasty but effective negotiation strategy: Misrepresentation of a common-value issue . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 504–515 .[Abstract]
- Pruitt, D. G. (1981). Negotiation behavior. New York: Academic Press .
- Pruitt, D. G. (1998). Social conflict. In D. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology(4th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 89–150). New York: McGraw-Hill .
- Pruitt, D. G., & Carnevale, P. J. (1993). Negotiation in social conflict. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press .
- Pruitt, D. G., & Lewis, S. A. (1975). Development of integrative solutions in bilateral negotation . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31, 621–633 .[CrossRef]
- Pruitt, D. G., & Smith, D. L. (1981). Impression management in bargaining: Images of firmness and trustworthiness. In J. T. Tedeschi (Ed.), Impression management theory and social psychological theory(pp. 247–267). New York: Academic Press .
- Raiffa, H. (1982). The art and science of negotiation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
- Ratner, R. K., & Miller, D. T. (2001). The norm of self-interest and its effects on social action . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 5–16 .[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
[Order article via Infotrieve]
- Rubin, J. Z., Pruitt, D. G., & Kim, S. H. (1994). Social conflict: Escalation, stalemate and settlement. New York: Random House .
- Thomas, K. W. (1992). Conflict and negotiation processes in organizations. In M. D. Dunnette & K. M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology(pp. 651–717). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press .
- Thompson, L., & Loewenstein, G. (1992). Egocentric interpretations of fairness and interpersonal conflict . Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 51, 176–197 .[CrossRef]
- Tjosvold, D. (1977). Commitment to justice in conflict between unequal status persons . Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 7, 149–162 .[CrossRef]
- Walster, E., Berscheid, E., & Walster, G. W. (1973). New directions in equity research . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 25, 151–176 .[CrossRef]
- Weingart, L. R. (1997). How did they do that? The ways and means of studying group process . Research in Organizational Behavior, 19, 189–239 .
 CiteULike  Connotea  Del.icio.us  Digg  Reddit  Technorati What's this?
|
