Negotiations 6e mcgraw hill chapter 5

The Process of PerceptionThe process of ascribing meaning to messages and events is strongly influenced by the perceiver’s current state of mind, role, and comprehension of earlier com

Perception, Cognition, and

Emotion in Negotiation

The basic building blocks of all social

encounters are:

• Perception

• Cognition

– Framing

– Cognitive biases

• Emotion

Perception is:

• The process by which individuals connect to

their environment.

• A complex physical and psychological process

• A “sense-making” process

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

Perceptual Distortion

• Four major perceptual errors:

– Stereotyping

– Halo effects

– Selective perception

– Projection

Stereotyping and Halo Effects

• Stereotyping :

– 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

Selective Perception

and Projection

• Selective perception:

– 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

• 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

Types of Frames

• Substantive

• Outcome

• Aspiration

• Process

• Identity

• Characterization

• Loss-Gain

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

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

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

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

Irrational Escalation of Commitment

and Mythical Fixed-Pie Beliefs

• Irrational escalation of commitment

– 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

Anchoring and Adjustment

and Issue Framing and Risk

• Anchoring and adjustment

– 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

Availability of Information and the Winner’s Curse

• Availability of information

– 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

Overconfidence and the Law of Small Numbers

• Overconfidence

– 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

Self-Serving Biases and Endowment Effect

• Self-serving biases

– 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

• Negative emotions can create an unpleasant

environment and increase a conflict that

may exist