When Women Ask, Does Curiosity Help?

Abstract

This research examines the potential social benefits of displaying curiosity during a negotiation. Past research has found women who ask directly in distributive agentic settings can suffer negative social consequences and obtain worse objective outcomes compared to men. In three experiments (N = 600) using different negotiation contexts, we found men and women who approach negotiations with curiosity reap the same economic benefits of asking directly but without incurring a social cost. We also found that perceived warmth partially accounts for the positive effects of curiosity (vs. asking directly) on negotiators’ social outcomes. Finally, our results reveal women feel more comfortable conveying curiosity compared to using a direct approach in their negotiations. We discuss the implications of these findings in enhancing negotiation effectiveness for both women and men.