Context, issues and frame as determinants of negotiated outcomes

Abstract

Negotiation outcomes can be influenced by the extent to which individuals focus on potential gains or losses; whether outcomes are so influenced depends on situational features of the negotiation. This paper identified and tested for the effects of three such variables: opponents' gain or loss frame, pay‐off structure (fixed‐or variable‐sum) and strategic orientation (cooperative or competitive). Results showed that, when pay‐offs were variable‐sum, gain‐framed negotiators outperformed loss‐framed negotiators, with their relative advantage increasing when instructions encouraged a cooperative orientation or opponents were loss‐framed. When issues were fixed‐sum, a negotiator's gain or loss‐f..