Bargainer characteristics in distributive and integrative negotiation.

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Abstract
Negotiation researchers theorize that individual differences are determinants of bargaining processes and outcomes but have yet to establish empirically the role of individual differences. In 2 studies the authors used bargaining simulations to examine the roles of personality and cognitive ability in distributive (Study 1 ) and integrative (Study 2) negotiation. The authors hypothesized and found evidence that Extraversion and Agreeableness are liabilities in distributive bargaining encounters. For both Extraversion and Agreeableness there were interactions between personality and negotiator aspirations such that personality effects were more pronounced in the absence of high aspirations. Contrary to predictions, Conscientiousness was generally unrelated to bargaining success. Cognitive ability played no role in distributive bargaining but was markedly related to the attainment of joint outcomes in a situation with integrative potential. Over the course of decades of bargaining research, it has been widely assumed that the personal characteristics of individual bargainers are relevant to an understanding of the processes and outcomes of negotiation encounters. Unfortunately, empirical support for the role of individual differences in bargaining is inconclusive (Neale & Northcraft, 1991; Pruitt & Carnevale, 1993), leading some researchers to question whether such differ- ences are important determinants of negotiation behavior (e.g., Lewicki, Litterer, Minton, & Saunders, 1994). In this article we report the results of two studies designed to overcome some of the limitations that have plagued previous research on individual differences in negotiation. Rather than focus on individual, isolated traits, as has been the case in past research, we drew upon a comprehensive model of personality structure and considered the role of cognitive ability. We tested direct as well as interactive hypotheses addressing the role of bargainer characteristics, and we considered their effects at dif- ferent stages of the negotiation episode. We considered both purely distributive bargaining situations and situations with in- tegrative potential. Although the negotiators in our studies were students, they were graduate management students with an aver- age of 3-4 years of significant work experience beyond their undergraduate schooling.

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