A Review of Gender Differences in Negotiation

Abstract

Gender differences, both in entering negotiations and when negotiating, have been proved to exist: Men are usually more likely to enter into negotiation than women and when negotiating they obtain better deals than women. These gender differences help to explain the gender gap in wages, as starting salaries and wage increases or promotions throughout an individual’s career are often the result of bilateral negotiations. This article presents an overview of the literature on gender differences in negotiation. The article is organized in four main parts. The first section reviews the findings with respect to gender differences in the likelihood of engaging in a negotiation, that is, in deciding to start a negotiation. The second section discusses research on gender differences during negotiations, that is, while bargaining. The third section looks at the relevant psychological literature and discusses meta-analyses, looking for factors that trigger or moderate gender differences in negotiation, such as structural ambiguity and cultural traits. The fourth section presents a brief overview of research on gender differences in non- cognitive traits, such as risk and social preferences, confidence, and taste for competition, and their impact in explaining gender differences in bargaining. Finally, the fifth section discusses some policy implications. An understanding of when gender differences are likely to arise on entering into negotiations and when negotiating will enable policies to be created that can mitigate current gender differences in negotiations. This is an active, promising research line.

How traditional gender roles hurt both women and men: negative processes and outcomes in mixed-gender negotiations

“…Negotiations are among the most consequential of social interactions because their results impact individuals’ lives, careers, families and financial outcomes substantially. Past research has revealed some gender differences in negotiation intentions and behaviors that put women at a disadvantage (Bowles et al , 2007; Greig, 2008; Hernandez-Arenaz and Iriberri, 2019; Pfeifer and Stephan, 2019; Small et al , 2007; Walters et al , 1998). However, findings comparing the two genders’ economic outcomes have been inconsistent.…”

Do managers’ negotiation styles make employees’ relational justice-emotional experiences links sporadic?

“…More specifically, employees passively rely on their managers’ negotiation styles for fair outcomes (Lind and van den Bos, 2002). Resultantly, they tend to be more contriently interdependent (Hernandez-Arenaz and Iriberri, 2019), and hence, they distrust the manager and be asocial in self-presentation during the performance review (Comeau and Griffith, 2005). Similarly, employees who foresee an unfair performance review outcome because of the manager’s negotiation style might experience dejection, perceive their behavioral options decreasing, opt out of selecting future situations and quit the organization (Erdogan, 2002; Ikramullah et al , 2016).…”

Gender differences in perceptions of and experiences with remuneration and negotiation among early workers

“…Overall, women are less likely to initiate and participate in negotiations compared to men (Babcock et al 2006;Gerhart and Rynes 1991;Hernandez-Arenaz and Iriberri 2019;Kugler et al 2018;O'Shea and Bush 2002), and individual differences in the type of negotiation strategies used also account for who is likely to initiate and receive benefit from the negotiation attempt (Marks and Harold 2009). Social role theory explains that beliefs about assumed gender roles guide the perceptions of men's and women's social roles within society (Eagly and Wood 2012), which contributes to the assignment of gender-specific attitudes in negotiation situations.…”