The impact of message frame on negotiators' impressions, emotions, and behaviors

Abstract

This experiment examined the impact of negotiators' cooperative and competitive expectations on the interpretation of ambiguous messages. In a simulated bilateral negotiation, participants received an initial set of cooperative, competitive or ambiguous messages, followed by a set of ambiguous messages. Negotiators who received cooperative of competitive messages weighed communality more heavily than power in their assessment of ambiguous messages, whereas negotiators who received two sets of ambiguous messages weighed power more heavily than communality. A cooperative-ambiguous message sequence resulted in less positive emotions whereas a competitive-ambiguous message sequence increased coo..