5-1 CHAPTER FIVE Perception, Cognition, and Emotion McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-2 Perception, Cognition, and Emotion in Negotiation The basic building blocks of all social encounters are: • Perception • Cognition Framing Cognitive biases Emotion McGraw- â2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-3 Perception Perception is: • The process by which individuals connect to their environment • A complex physical and psychological process A sense-making process McGraw- â2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-4 The Role of Perception The process of ascribing meaning to messages and events is strongly influenced by the perceiver’s current state of mind, role, and comprehension of earlier communications People interpret their environment in order to respond appropriately The complexity of environments makes it impossible to process all of the information People develop shortcuts to process information and these shortcuts create perceptual errors McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-5 Perceptual Distortion • Four major perceptual errors: – Stereotyping – Halo effects – Selective perception – Projection McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-6 Stereotyping and Halo Effects • Stereotyping: – Is a very common distortion – Occurs when an individual assigns attributes to another solely on the basis of the other’s membership in a particular social or demographic category • Halo effects: – Are similar to stereotypes – Occur when an individual generalizes about a variety of attributes based on the knowledge of one attribute of an individual McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-7 Selective Perception and Projection • Selective perception: – Perpetuates stereotypes or halo effects – The perceiver singles out information that supports a prior belief but filters out contrary information • Projection: – Arises out of a need to protect one’s own self-concept – People assign to others the characteristics or feelings that they possess themselves McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-8 Framing • Frames: – Represent the subjective mechanism through which people evaluate and make sense out of situations – Lead people to pursue or avoid subsequent actions – Focus, shape and organize the world around us – Make sense of complex realities – Define a person, event or process – Impart meaning and significance McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-9 Types of Frames • • • • • • • Substantive Outcome Aspiration Process Identity Characterization Loss-Gain McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-10 How Frames Work in Negotiation • Negotiators can use more than one frame • Mismatches in frames between parties are sources of conflict • Particular types of frames may lead to particular types of arguments • Specific frames may be likely to be used with certain types of issues • Parties are likely to assume a particular frame because of various factors McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-14 Cognitive Biases in Negotiation • Negotiators have a tendency to make systematic errors when they process information These errors, collectively labeled cognitive biases, tend to impede negotiator performance McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-15 Cognitive Biases • • • • • Irrational escalation of commitment Mythical fixed-pie beliefs Anchoring and adjustment Issue framing and risk Availability of information McGraw- • The winner’s curse • Overconfidence • The law of small numbers • Self-serving biases • Endowment effect • Ignoring others’ cognitions • Reactive devaluation ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-16 Irrational Escalation of Commitment and Mythical Fixed-Pie Beliefs • Irrational escalation of commitment – Negotiators maintain commitment to a course of action even when that commitment constitutes irrational behavior • Mythical fixed-pie beliefs – Negotiators assume that all negotiations (not just some) involve a fixed pie McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-17 Anchoring and Adjustment and Issue Framing and Risk • Anchoring and adjustment – The effect of the standard (anchor) against which subsequent adjustments (gains or losses) are measured – The anchor might be based on faulty or incomplete information, thus be misleading • Issue framing and risk – Frames can lead people to seek, avoid, or be neutral about risk in decision making and negotiation McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-18 Availability of Information and the Winner’s Curse • Availability of information – Operates when information that is presented in vivid or attention-getting ways becomes easy to recall – Becomes central and critical in evaluating events and options • The winner’s curse – The tendency to settle quickly on an item and then subsequently feel discomfort about a win that comes too easily McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-19 Overconfidence and The Law of Small Numbers • Overconfidence – The tendency of negotiators to believe that their ability to be correct or accurate is greater than is actually true • The law of small numbers – The tendency of people to draw conclusions from small sample sizes – The smaller sample, the greater the possibility that past lessons will be erroneously used to infer what will happen in the future McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-20 Confidence or Overconfidence? We came to Iceland to advance the cause of peace .and though we put on the table the most far-reaching arms control proposal in history, the General Secretary rejected it President Ronald Reagan to reporters, following completion of presummit arms control discussions in Reykjavik, Iceland, on October 12, 1986 I proposed an urgent meeting here because we had something to propose .The Americans came to this meeting empty handed Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev, Describing the same meeting to reporters McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-21 Self-Serving Biases and Endowment Effect • Self-serving biases – People often explain another person’s behavior by making attributions, either to the person or to the situation – The tendency, known as fundamental attribution error, is to: • Overestimate the role of personal or internal factors • Underestimate the role of situational or external factors • Endowment effect – The tendency to overvalue something you own or believe you possess McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-22 Ignoring Others’ Cognitions and Reactive Devaluation • Ignoring others’ cognitions – Negotiators don’t bother to ask about the other party’s perceptions and thoughts – This leaves them to work with incomplete information, and thus produces faulty results • Reactive devaluation – The process of devaluing the other party’s concessions simply because the other party made them McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-23 Managing Misperceptions and Cognitive Biases in Negotiation The best advice that negotiators can follow is: • Be aware of the negative aspects of these biases • Discuss them in a structured manner within the team and with counterparts McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-24 Mood, Emotion, and Negotiation • The distinction between mood and emotion is based on three characteristics: – Specificity – Intensity – Duration McGraw- â2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-25 Mood, Emotion, and Negotiation Negotiations create both positive and negative emotions • Positive emotions generally have positive consequences for negotiations – They are more likely to lead the parties toward more integrative processes – They also create a positive attitude toward the other side – They promote persistence McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-26 Mood, Emotion, and Negotiation • Aspects of the negotiation process can lead to positive emotions – Positive feelings result from fair procedures during negotiation – Positive feelings result from favorable social comparison McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-27 Mood, Emotion, and Negotiation • Negative emotions generally have negative consequences for negotiations – They may lead parties to define the situation as competitive or distributive – They may undermine a negotiator’s ability to analyze the situation accurately, which adversely affects individual outcomes – They may lead parties to escalate the conflict – They may lead parties to retaliate and may thwart integrative outcomes McGraw- â2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-28 Mood, Emotion, and Negotiation Aspects of the negotiation process can lead to negative emotions – Negative emotions may result from a competitive mindset – Negative emotions may result from an impasse • Effects of positive and negative emotion – Positive emotions may generate negative outcomes – Negative feelings may elicit beneficial outcomes • Emotions can be used strategically as negotiation gambits McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill ... 5-25 Mood, Emotion, and Negotiation • Negotiations create both positive and negative emotions • Positive emotions generally have positive consequences for negotiations – They are more likely to... Role of Perception The process of ascribing meaning to messages and events is strongly influenced by the perceiver’s current state of mind, role, and comprehension of earlier communications People... commitment constitutes irrational behavior • Mythical fixed-pie beliefs – Negotiators assume that all negotiations (not just some) involve a fixed pie McGraw- ©2006 The McGraw-Hill 5-17 Anchoring and