On the Relative Importance of Individual-Level Characteristics and Dyadic Interaction Effects in Distributive Negotiations: Variance Partitioning Evidence from a Twins Study

Journal of Applied Psychology, Forthcoming

29 Pages Posted: 11 Jul 2017

See all articles by Hillary Anger Elfenbein

Hillary Anger Elfenbein

Washington University in St. Louis, Olin School of Business

Noah Eisenkraft

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - Management-Organizational Behavior Area

Jared R. Curhan

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management

Lisabeth DiLalla

Southern Illinois University - School of Medicine

Date Written: July 6, 2017

Abstract

Negotiations are inherently dyadic. Negotiators’ individual-level characteristics may not only make them perform better or worse in general, but also may make them particularly well- or poorly-suited to negotiate with a particular counterpart. The present research estimates the extent to which performance in a distributive negotiation is affected by (1) the negotiators’ individual-level characteristics and (2) dyadic interaction effects that are defined by the unique pairings between the negotiators and their counterparts. Because negotiators cannot interact multiple times without carryover effects, we estimated the relative importance of these factors with a new methodology that used twin siblings as stand-ins for one another. Participants engaged in a series of one-on-one negotiations with counterparts while, elsewhere, their co-twins engaged in the same series of one-on-one negotiations with the co-twins of those counterparts. In these data, dyadic interaction effects explained more variation in negotiation economic outcomes than did individual differences, whereas individual differences explain more than twice as much of the variation in subjective negotiation outcomes than did dyadic interaction effects. These results suggest dyadic interaction effects represent an understudied area for future research, particularly with regard to the economic outcomes of negotiations.

Keywords: Negotiations, Bargaining, Individual Differences, Dyadic Interaction Effects, Social Relations Model

Suggested Citation

Elfenbein, Hillary Anger and Eisenkraft, Noah and Curhan, Jared R. and DiLalla, Lisabeth, On the Relative Importance of Individual-Level Characteristics and Dyadic Interaction Effects in Distributive Negotiations: Variance Partitioning Evidence from a Twins Study (July 6, 2017). Journal of Applied Psychology, Forthcoming , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2998338 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2998338

Hillary Anger Elfenbein (Contact Author)

Washington University in St. Louis, Olin School of Business ( email )

One Brookings Drive
Campus Box 1133
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
United States

Noah Eisenkraft

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - Management-Organizational Behavior Area ( email )

United States

Jared R. Curhan

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management ( email )

50 Memorial Drive, E52-554
Cambridge, MA 02142
United States
617-253-5219 (Phone)
617-253-2660 (Fax)

Lisabeth DiLalla

Southern Illinois University - School of Medicine ( email )

Lindegren Hall - Mail Code 6503
Carbondale, IL 62901
United States

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