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  • May 2011
  • Article
  • Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Can Nervous Nelly Negotiate? How Anxiety Causes Negotiators to Make Low First Offers, Exit Early, and Earn Less Profit

By: A.W. Brooks and M.E. Schweitzer
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Abstract

Negotiations trigger anxiety. Across four studies, we demonstrate that anxiety is harmful to negotiator performance. In our experiments, we induced either anxiety or neutral feelings and studied behavior in negotiation and continuous shrinking-pie tasks. Compared to negotiators experiencing neutral feelings, negotiators who feel anxious expect lower outcomes, make lower first offers, respond more quickly to offers, exit bargaining situations earlier, and ultimately obtain worse outcomes. The relationship between anxiety and negotiator behavior is moderated by negotiator self-efficacy; high self-efficacy mitigates the harmful effects of anxiety.

Keywords

Behavior; Negotiation Participants; Outcome or Result; Emotions

Citation

Brooks, A.W., and M.E. Schweitzer. "Can Nervous Nelly Negotiate? How Anxiety Causes Negotiators to Make Low First Offers, Exit Early, and Earn Less Profit." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 115, no. 1 (May 2011): 43–54. (Awarded Best Paper with a Student as First Author by the International Association for Conflict Management, 2010.)
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About The Author

Alison Wood Brooks

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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More from the Authors
  • The Conversational Circumplex: Identifying, Prioritizing, and Pursuing Informational and Relational Motives in Conversation By: Michael Yeomans, Maurice E. Schweitzer and Alison Wood Brooks
  • Feeling Seen: Leader Eye Gaze Promotes Psychological Safety, Participation, and Voice By: Nicole Abi-Esber, Alison Wood Brooks and Ethan Burris
  • What Is Your Status Portfolio? Higher Status Variance across Groups Increases Interpersonal Helping but Decreases Intrapersonal Well-being By: Catarina R. Fernandes, Siyu Yu, Taeya M. Howell, Alison Wood Brooks, Gavin J. Kilduff and Nathan C. Pettit
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