Cognitive Reflection in Multi-Issue Negotiation

Abstract

Suboptimal outcomes in negotiation have been associated with the fixed-pie assumption. The ability to detect and correct this bias might be a critical capacity in negotiation. This paper investigates whether cognitive reflection predicts negotiation performance. In the first study (N = 262), cognitive reflection predicted both effective logrolling (integrative gain) and identifying issues where negotiators’ preferences were identical (compatible gain), and partially mediated the effects of training on outcomes. In the second study (N = 143), cognitive reflection correlated with problem-solving strategies and expectations of cooperativeness of the counterparty. The findings support the proposition that the ability to engage deliberate thinking assists negotiators with overriding the fixed-pie assumption and consequently facilitates superior performance in negotiation.

Keywords: cognitive reflection, negotiation, zero-sum bias, training, social psychology, decision-making