TY - JOUR

T1 - Empowered or informed? Seeking to mitigate gender differences in first-offer assertiveness through pre-negotiation interventions

AU - Kokić, Erna

AU - Wagner, Laure

AU - García López del Amo, Ana

AU - Giering, Charlotte L.

AU - Ly Truong, Van

AU - Petrowsky, Hannes M.

AU - Husen, Onno M.

AU - Loschelder, David D.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024

PY - 2024/12/1

Y1 - 2024/12/1

N2 - Gender differences in negotiation behavior—for instance, men's vs. women's likelihood to make (assertive) first offers—contribute to the globally prevalent gender pay gap (GPG). In an attempt to mitigate the social and economic consequences of this gender disparity, we first empirically validated two pre-negotiation message interventions in a pilot study (N = 203). In the main experimental intervention study (N = 585), male versus female participants randomly received this (1) informative message about the GPG, or (2) gender-specific empowering message, or (3) no message in the control condition. In a subsequent negotiation task on the starting salary for a new job, we assessed participants’ (a) likelihood-to-initiate a first offer and (b) first-offer assertiveness. Results showed a remarkably robust behavioral gender disparity: across all conditions, men were more likely to make the first offer (d = 0.178) and made them more assertively (d = 0.339). Importantly, compared to the control condition, the informative (dinform = 0.304) and the empowering (dempower = 0.255) pre-negotiation interventions increased women's first-offer assertiveness. Similar intervention benefits emerged for men (dinform = 0.259; dempower = 0.284), however, yielding an overall remarkably robust gender difference. To explore the underlying reasons for this gender disparity, we tested four competing psychological mechanisms (i.e., self-esteem, positive and negative affect, GPG awareness, and self-efficacy). Our results highlight the impact that even short, minimal interventions can have on gender differences in negotiation behavior and illustrate which psychological mechanisms explain the emergence of gender disparity in the first place.

AB - Gender differences in negotiation behavior—for instance, men's vs. women's likelihood to make (assertive) first offers—contribute to the globally prevalent gender pay gap (GPG). In an attempt to mitigate the social and economic consequences of this gender disparity, we first empirically validated two pre-negotiation message interventions in a pilot study (N = 203). In the main experimental intervention study (N = 585), male versus female participants randomly received this (1) informative message about the GPG, or (2) gender-specific empowering message, or (3) no message in the control condition. In a subsequent negotiation task on the starting salary for a new job, we assessed participants’ (a) likelihood-to-initiate a first offer and (b) first-offer assertiveness. Results showed a remarkably robust behavioral gender disparity: across all conditions, men were more likely to make the first offer (d = 0.178) and made them more assertively (d = 0.339). Importantly, compared to the control condition, the informative (dinform = 0.304) and the empowering (dempower = 0.255) pre-negotiation interventions increased women's first-offer assertiveness. Similar intervention benefits emerged for men (dinform = 0.259; dempower = 0.284), however, yielding an overall remarkably robust gender difference. To explore the underlying reasons for this gender disparity, we tested four competing psychological mechanisms (i.e., self-esteem, positive and negative affect, GPG awareness, and self-efficacy). Our results highlight the impact that even short, minimal interventions can have on gender differences in negotiation behavior and illustrate which psychological mechanisms explain the emergence of gender disparity in the first place.

KW - Empowering messages

KW - First offers

KW - Gender differences

KW - Gender pay gap

KW - Informative messages

KW - Negotiation behavior

KW - Management studies

KW - Business psychology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85207701183&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/cc40e93f-20a0-386a-a5b6-53a5ea0e7615/

U2 - 10.1016/j.joep.2024.102775

DO - 10.1016/j.joep.2024.102775

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85207701183

VL - 105

JO - Journal of Economic Psychology

JF - Journal of Economic Psychology

SN - 0167-4870

M1 - 102775

ER -