Perception, Cognition and Communication CHAPTER FIVE Perception, Cognition and Communication

Perception and Negotiation The role of perception Perception distortion in negotiation Framing

The Role of Perception Perception: The process by which individuals connect to their environment People interpret their environment in order to respond appropriately The complexity of environments makes it impossible to process all of the information As a result people develop shortcuts to process information These shortcuts create perceptual errors

Perception Distortion in Negotiation Four major perceptual errors: Stereotyping Halo effects Selective perception Projection

Stereotyping & Halo Effects Stereotyping: An individual assigns attributes to another solely on the basis of the other’s membership in a particular social or demographic group “Old people are conservative; this person is old and therefore is conservative” Halo Effects: An individual generalizes about a variety of attributes based on the knowledge of one attribute of an individual “He is smiling therefore he is also honest”

Selective Perception & Projection Selective Perception: The perceiver singles out information that supports a prior belief but filters out contrary information The person who thinks “He is smiling therefore he is also honest” ignores behavior indicating the other party’s aggressiveness Projection: People ascribe to others the characteristics that they possess themselves “I am honest therefore she is honest also”

Framing Frames: The subjective mechanism through which people evaluate and make sense out of situations Lead people to pursue or avoid subsequent actions About focusing, shaping and organizing the world around us Making sense of complex realities Defining realities in ways that are meaningful to us

Cognitive Biases in Negotiation Negotiators have a tendency to make systematic errors when they process information. These cognitive biases, impede negotiator performance; they include: Irrational Escalation of Commitment Mythical Fixed-Pie Beliefs Anchoring and Adjustment Framing Availability of Information Winners Curse Overconfidence The Law of Small Numbers Self-Serving Biases Endowment Effect Ignoring Other’s Cognitions Reactive Devaluation

Irrational Escalation of Commitment & Mythical Fixed-Pie Beliefs Negotiators maintain commitment to a course of action even when that commitment constitutes irrational behavior Mythical Fixed-Pie Beliefs Negotiators assume that all negotiations (not just some) involve a fixed pie

Anchoring and Adjustment & Framing The effect of the standard (anchor) against which subsequent adjustments (gains or losses) are measured The anchor might be based on faulty or incomplete information, thus be misleading Framing Frames can lead people to seek, avoid, or be neutral about risk in decision making and negotiation

Availability of Information & The Winners Curse Operates when information that is presented in vivid or attention-getting ways becomes easy to recall. Becomes central and critical in evaluating events and options The Winners Curse The tendency to settle quickly on an item and then subsequently feel discomfort about a win that comes too easily

Overconfidence & The Law of Small Numbers The tendency of negotiators to believe that their ability to be correct or accurate is greater than is actually true The Law of Small Numbers The tendency of people to draw conclusions from small sample sizes The smaller sample, the greater the possibility that past lessons will be erroneously used to infer what will happen in the future

Confidence or Overconfidence?

Self-Serving Biases & Endowment Effect People often explain another person’s behavior by making attributions, either to the person or to the situation The tendency is to: Overestimate the role of personal or internal factors Underestimate the role of situational or external factors Endowment Effect The tendency to overvalue something you own or believe you possess

Ignoring Other’s Cognitions & Reactive Devaluation Negotiators don’t bother to ask about the other party’s perceptions and thoughts This leaves them to work with incomplete information, and thus produces faulty results Reactive Devaluation The process of devaluing the other party’s concessions simply because the other party made them

Managing Misperceptions and Cognitive Biases in Negotiation The best advice is: Be aware of the negative aspects of these effects Discuss them in a structured manner within their team and with their counterparts

Communication in Negotiation Two key implications for negotiation: The distortions that can occur in communication How communication in negotiation can be viewed in phases or stages

Distortions in Communication 1. Senders and receivers The more diverse their goals or the more antagonistic they are in their relationship, the greater the likelihood that: Distortions and errors in communication will occur 2. Transmitters and receptors The choice of transmitter can affect outcomes Some messages may be better spoken, others written Poor eyesight, faulty hearing, etc. diminish the ability of a receiver to receive a message accurately

Distortions in Communication 3. Messages The symbolic forms by which information is communicated The more we use symbolic communication, the more likely the symbols may not accurately communicate the meaning we intend 4. Encoding The process by which messages are put into symbolic form Senders are likely to encode messages in a form which receivers may not prefer

Distortions in Communication 5. Channels The conduits by which messages are carried from one party to another Messages are subject to distortion from channel noise 6. Decoding The process of translating messages from their symbolic form into a form that makes sense When people speak different languages, decoding involves higher degrees of error

Distortions in Communication 7. Meanings The facts, ideas, feelings, reactions, or thoughts that exist within individuals and act as filters for interpreting the decoded messages Those filters can introduce distortions 8. Feedback The process by which the receiver reacts to the sender’s message The absence of feedback can contribute to distortions Feedback can distort communication by leading negotiators to change how they negotiate or evaluate outcomes

Phase Models of Communication in Negotiation Negotiation proceeds through distinct phases or stages: The early stages Negotiators engage in behavior to state and defend their own position to the other party

Phase Models of Communication in Negotiation The middle phase Negotiators become less competitive and protective They move to a problem-oriented mode, searching for possible solutions within limits that were defined earlier The later stage Negotiators work to achieve a joint solution They are trying to agree on a settlement point that will satisfy each party

What is Communicated During Negotiation? Offers and counteroffers Information about alternatives Information about outcomes Social accounts Explanations of mitigating circumstances Explanations of exonerating circumstances Reframing explanations Communication about the negotiation process

How People Communicate in Negotiation Use of Language Logical level (proposals, offers) Pragmatic level (semantics, syntax, style) Selection of a Communication Channel Social presence is key variation that distinguishes one channel from another Social presence is the ability of a channel to carry and convey subtle social cues from sender to receiver It goes beyond the literal “text” of the message itself

How to Improve Communication in Negotiation The Use of Questions Manageable Cause attention or prepare the other person’s thinking for: Further questions Getting information Generating thoughts Unmanageable Cause difficulty, give information and bring the discussion to a false conclusion

How to Improve Communication in Negotiation (cont.) Listening: Three major forms Passive listening No feedback to the sender Acknowledgment: Receivers nod their heads, maintain eye contact, or interject responses Active listening: Receivers restate or paraphrase the sender’s message in their own language

How to Improve Communication in Negotiation (cont.) Using active listening encourages people to speak more fully about their: Feelings Priorities Frames of reference Positions

How to Improve Communication in Negotiation (cont.) Role Reversal Allows negotiators to understand the other party’s positions by actively arguing these positions Role reversal is effective in producing cognitive changes and attitude changes When the positions are compatible, role reversal is likely to produce acceptable results When the positions are incompatible, role reversal may inhibit positive change Role reversal is not necessarily effective overall as a means of inducing agreement between parties

Mood, Emotion and Negotiation Negotiations Create Both Positive and Negative Emotions Positive Emotions Generally Have Positive Consequences for Negotiations They are more likely to lead the parties toward more integrative processes They also create a positive attitude toward the other side They promote persistence

Mood, Emotion and Negotiation Positive Emotions Generally Have Positive Consequences for Negotiations (cont.) They result from fair procedures during negotiation They may also have negative consequences Negotiators in a positive mood may be less likely to examine closely the arguments put forward by the other party

Mood, Emotion and Negotiation Negative Emotions Generally Have Negative Consequences for Negotiations They may lead parties to define the situation as competitive or distributive They may lead parties to escalate the conflict They may lead parties to use retaliatory behavior and obtain poorer outcomes

Mood, Emotion and Negotiation Negative Emotions Generally Have Negative Consequences for Negotiations (cont.) They may result from impasse They may create positive outcomes Anger can serve as a danger signal that motivates both parties to confront the problem directly and search for a resolution Emotions Can Be Used Strategically As Negotiation Tactics

Special Communication Considerations at the Close of Negotiations Avoiding Fatal Mistakes Decision Traps and Learning from Negotiation Feedback 1. Plunging in involves: Reaching a conclusion before fully identifying the essence or crux of the problem 2. Overconfidence in one’s own judgment involves: Blocking, ignoring, failing to seek factual information that might contradict one’s own assumptions and opinions

Special Communication Considerations at the Close of Negotiations Decision Traps and Learning from Negotiation Feedback (cont.) 3. Frame blindness involves: Solving the wrong problem Overlooking options Losing sight of objectives Because they do not fit the frame being used 4. Lack of frame control involves: Failing to test frames to determine if they fit the issues being discussed Being unduly influenced by the other party’s frame

Special Communication Considerations at the Close of Negotiations Decision Traps and Learning from Negotiation Feedback (cont.) 5. Shortsighted shortcuts involves misusing: Heuristics Rules of thumb E,g. convenient (but misleading) referent points 6. Shooting from the hip involves: Managing too much information in one’s head Not adopting and using a systematic process of evaluation and choice

Special Communication Considerations at the Close of Negotiations Decision Traps and Learning from Negotiation Feedback (cont.) 7. Group failure involves: Not managing the group process effectively Assuming that smart and well-intentioned individuals can invariably produce a high-quality group decision 8. Fooling yourself about feedback involves failing to use feedback correctly: To Protect one’s ego Through the bias of hindsight

Special Communication Considerations at the Close of Negotiations Decision Traps and Learning from Negotiation Feedback (cont.) 9. Not keeping track involves: Assuming that learning occurs automatically Not keeping systematic records of decisions and related outcomes 10. Failure to audit one’s own decision processes involves: Failing to establish and use a plan to avoid the traps mentioned here The inability or unwillingness to fully understand one’s own style, warts and all

Special Communication Considerations at the Close of Negotiations Achieving Closure Do You Have a "Good” Agreement? Is there a preamble in which the intent of the agreement is spelled out clearly? Are all the issues of interest to all parties addressed? Are all the proposals workable? Have all parties affected by the agreement been consulted?

Achieving Closure Do You Have a "Good” Agreement? (cont.) For each point of agreement, is it crystal clear what you have agreed to, including: What is to be done By whom By what time How Does the agreement make sense in total? Is the agreement reasonable and equitable?

Achieving Closure Do You Have a "Good” Agreement? (cont.) Have you considered the major barriers to fulfilling the agreement? Do you have a vehicle for managing disagreements arising out of this agreement? Is it clear to all parties what this vehicle is and how to use it?