Behaviors, Trust, and Goal Achievement in a Win-Win Negotiating Role Play

Abstract

The study investigated whether negotiators' behaviors were related to changes in their opponents' initial trust, and whether trust and behaviors were related to their own goal achievement. Hypotheses were derived from a synthesis of two well-known models of mistrust and conflict. Participants were 296 management students, most of whom had supervisory experience. They performed a negotiating task with a fully integrative (win-win) solution, and provided data on their interactions and goal achievements. Increases in opponents' trust during negotiation were associated with information sharing and pursuit of the opponents' interests, but not with the pursuit of the negotiators' own interests. The achievement of negotiators' own goals was related to pursuing their own interests, but not to information sharing nor to pursuing their opponents' interests. Implications for negotiators and some apparently dysfunctional consequences of experience are discussed.