title: Agreement Attraction and Impasse Aversion: Reasons for Selecting a Poor Deal Over No Deal at All.
abstract: In the present studies, we examined the positive value of agreement and the negative value of impasse. Participants chose to give up real value and sacrifice economic efficiency in order to attain an agreement outcome and avoid an impasse outcome. A personally disadvantageous option was selected significantly more often when it was labeled "Agreement" rather than "Option A," and a personally advantageous option was avoided significantly more often when it was labeled "Impasse" rather than "Option B." In a face-to-face negotiation, a substantial proportion of individuals reached an agreement that was inferior to their best alternative to agreement. We showed that the appeal of agreement and the aversion to impasse both contribute to this effect, yet the aversion to impasse is the stronger of the two motivations. These findings have important implications for negotiators.
authors.affiliation: George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology, Webster University ecetuncel24@webster.edu.
authors.forename: Ece
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tuncel
authors.affiliation: Kogod School of Business, American University.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mislin
authors.affiliation: Department of Organisational Behaviour, London Business School.
authors.forename: Selin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kesebir
authors.affiliation: Edwin L. Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University.
authors.forename: Robin L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Pinkley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003657:Decision Making; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017008:Negotiating / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: agreement; allocation task; cooperation; impasse; negotiation; open data