The study and findings

The researchers proposed the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1a: Negotiators in a choice mindset believe that there is more room to negotiate compared to those in a constraint mindset.

Hypothesis 1b: Upon receiving an ultimatum, negotiators in a choice mindset would be more willing to persist compared to those in a constraint mindset.

Hypothesis 2: An individual’s perception of how much room is available to negotiate (e.g. whether the other party is open to further discussing the conditions of a potential deal) can affect the link between choice mindset and their willingness to persist following an ultimatum.

Hypothesis 3: Negotiators in a choice mindset achieve better outcomes than negotiators in a constraint mindset.

The first study examined hypothesis 1a. Five-hundred and nine participants were randomly assigned to a choice mindset condition or a constraint mindset condition. Participants in the choice condition were instructed to think about the various choices they made throughout the previous day. As a matched control, participants in the constraint mindset condition were instructed to reflect on the previous day and think about every time they did something, whether they wanted to or not.

Each participant was asked to assume the role of a new recruit and urged to negotiate on issues such as number of vacation days and amount of work-related travel. Participants were then given a survey with questions such as “How much room do you think there is to negotiate?” Responses were assessed using a seven-point scale and ranged from not at all to extremely. The result of this experiment showed that individuals in a choice mindset were more likely to believe that there would be more room to negotiate.

The second study tested hypothesis 1b. This assessed whether negotiators in a choice mindset – compared to those in a constraint mindset - would be more willing to persist past an ultimatum. Three-hundred and seventeen participants were randomly assigned to either mindset condition.

Participants were then presented with a lengthy interaction between themselves and the employer. This interaction ended with the employer saying, “This is really the best I can offer, take it or leave it.” Following this, participants responded to a survey that assessed the extent to which the participants were willing to persist after an ultimatum.

The results of the second study showed that participants in the choice mindset were more willing to persist in a negotiation after their counterpart issued an ultimatum. Rather than accepting or rejecting the ultimatum, negotiators in a choice mindset were more likely to ignore the ultimatum and continue negotiating.

The third and fourth study were designed to test hypothesis 2. The third study consisted of the same hiring scenario as the previous study, as well a choice mindset and constraint mindset prime manipulation. Two-hundred and fifty-six participants were randomly assigned to either condition. Each participant was presented with an interaction between themselves and the employer that ended with an ultimatum. They measured the extent to which the ultimatum was ignored or accepted.

In the fourth study, participants in the two conditions were told they would be negotiating with a real person, through a computer. In reality, all responses were issued by the computer itself. During the negotiation, participants were issued an ultimatum on round 1, 3 and 5. Participants weren’t aware, but if an agreement wasn’t met by the 6th round, negotiations ended.

The results from the third and fourth study provided support for hypothesis 2. That is, the link between choice mindset and willingness to ignore an ultimatum was affected by one’s perception of how much room is available to negotiate.

The fifth study consisted of a used car negotiation. This was designed to test hypothesis 3 which proposed that negotiators in a choice mindset achieve better outcomes than negotiators in a constraint mindset. Participants were randomly assigned as a buyer or a seller. Buyers were further assigned to either the choice or constraint condition. Buyers were told not to pay more than $58,000 for the car. Sellers were told not to sell the car for less than $52,000.

The results of this study showed that buyers in the choice condition bought the car at a significantly lower price than buyers in the constraint condition. In other words, people primed with a choice mindset got the better deal.

Overall, these studies showed that negotiators in a choice mindset are more willing to persist following an ultimatum, allowing them to attain a better outcome.