Asking to understand: Follow-up questions and their psychological effects on negotiators and outcome

This study examined whether follow-up questions-asking influences negotiator’s psychological experiences and negotiation outcomes in a cooperative setting. Dyads (N = 76) were randomly assigned to either control condition or a follow-up question instruction condition. Hypothesized was that follow-up questions would increase the negotiators’ insight, sense of feeling heard, trust, communality and would increase higher joint outcomes. Results showed that the manipulation did not result in to significant differences of the negotiations partners’ psychological experiences or did it affect joint outcomes. Behavioral analysis also showed that the frequency of follow-up questions was not associated with higher psychological experiences or outcomes. Exploratory analysis however showed that negotiators who were instructed to ask follow-up questions reported a significant higher insight in to their counterparts priorities. Additionally, joint outcomes were positively related to the...Show moreThis study examined whether follow-up questions-asking influences negotiator’s psychological experiences and negotiation outcomes in a cooperative setting. Dyads (N = 76) were randomly assigned to either control condition or a follow-up question instruction condition. Hypothesized was that follow-up questions would increase the negotiators’ insight, sense of feeling heard, trust, communality and would increase higher joint outcomes. Results showed that the manipulation did not result in to significant differences of the negotiations partners’ psychological experiences or did it affect joint outcomes. Behavioral analysis also showed that the frequency of follow-up questions was not associated with higher psychological experiences or outcomes. Exploratory analysis however showed that negotiators who were instructed to ask follow-up questions reported a significant higher insight in to their counterparts priorities. Additionally, joint outcomes were positively related to the psychological experiences. These results suggest that follow-up questions primarily increases the question-asker’s insight, while other psychological experiences remain influential for a successful negotiation.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

Asking to understand: Follow-up questions and their psychological effects on negotiators and outcome