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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Individual Differences I:
Gender and Negotiation

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Introduction
• Distinguishing between the terms sex and
gender
• Reviewing the theoretical perspectives on
why one might expect differences
• Examining empirical research evidence
about the underlying psychology of gender
in negotiation

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Defining Sex and Gender

• Sex:
– Refers to the biological categories of male and female
– “the property or quality by which organisms are classified
as female or male on the basis of their reproductive organs
and functions”
• Gender:
– Refers to cultural and psychological markers of the sexes –
the aspects of role or identity that differentiate men from
women in a given culture or society

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Research on Gender
Differences in Negotiation
There may be no simple answer to the question
of how gender influences negotiation, but
recent studies are shedding light on differences
that do exist and on why it can be hard to find
them in broad-brush comparisons of male and
female negotiators.

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Male and Female Negotiators:

Theoretical Perspectives
Several important factors affect how women and
men approach negotiations:
• Relational view of others
• Embedded view of agency
• Beliefs about ability and worth
• Control through empowerment
• Problem solving through dialogue
• Perceptions and stereotypes

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Male and Female Negotiators:

Theoretical Perspectives
• Relational view of others
– Women: place greater emphasis on interaction goals
(the interpersonal aspects of the negotiations)
– Men: are driven more by task-specific goals
• Embedded view of agency
– Women: see negotiation as a behavior that occurs
within relationships without large divisions marking
when it begins and ends
– Men: tend to demarcate negotiating from other
behaviors that occur and signal the beginning and
end of the negotiations behaviorally.
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Male and Female Negotiators:

Theoretical Perspectives
• Beliefs about ability and worth
– Women: are more likely to see their worth determined by
what the employer will pay
– Men: expect to earn more than women over the course of
their career
• Control through empowerment
– Women: are more likely to see seek empowerment,
“interaction among all parties in the relationship”
– Men: use power to achieve their own goals or to force the
other party to capitulate

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Male and Female Negotiators:

Theoretical Perspectives
• Problem solving through dialogue
– Women: seek to engage, listen and contribute
– Men: convince the other party their position is the correct
one and support various tactics and ploys that are used to
win points during the discussion
• Perceptions and stereotypes
– Negative stereotypes about female bargainers shape
expectations and behaviors
– Men have an advantage as a “dominant cultural stereotype”

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Empirical Findings on Gender

Differences in Negotiations
• Men and women conceive of negotiations
differently
– Relationship versus task orientation
– Competition versus collaboration
– Is the situation perceived as a negotiation
opportunity?
• Men and women communicate differently
• Men and women are treated differently

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Empirical Findings on Gender

Differences in Negotiations
• Men and women are treated differently

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Empirical Findings on Gender

Differences in Negotiations
• Similar tactics have different effects when used by
men versus women
– Exchange tactics: studies suggest that not only do men and
women receive different outcomes during salary
negotiations but that the same tactic may have opposite
effects on salary negotiation outcomes
– Aggressive tactics: male and female candidates were less
likely to be hired when they bargained aggressively.
Females were 3.5 times less likely to be hired when
aggressive
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Gender Stereotypes affect

Negotiator Performance
• Stereotypes undermine the performance of
female negotiators
• The negative effect of stereotypes about
gender differences can be overcome
• The activated stereotype may matter more than
the actual gender of the negotiator

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Overcoming the Disadvantage of

Gender Differences
• Motivational interventions
– Emphasize the mutual dependence of both parties in the
negotiation relationship
• Cognitive interventions
– Focus on things that negotiators have in common that
transcend gender, such as common goals or identities
• Situational interventions
– Alter the social roles that women assume in a negotiation
to reduce the extent to which women feel constrained to
conform to gender role

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