인지적 종료욕구가 협상행동에 미치는 영향

Abstract

협상에서 상호간의 이득과 만족도를 높이는 합의를 도출하기 위해서는 유연하고 열린 마음을 갖는 것이중요하다. 따라서 협상 상대방에 대한 고정관념이나 인지적 편향의 영향에 쉽게 영향을 받는 특성을 지닌사람들은 협상에서 더욱 공격적이 되고, 불만족스러운 협상 결과를 도출할 가능성이 높다. 본 연구는 의사결정을 내리지 않은 모호한 상태를 불편해하는 개인적 특성인 인지적 종료욕구(Need for cognitive closure)가고정관념이나 인지적 편향에 대한 의존도를 높인다는 연구결과에 근거하여, 인지적 종료욕구가 협상자의 행동과 주관적 가치에 미치는 영향을 탐구한 연구이다. 구체적으로 본 연구는 인지적 종료욕구가 1) 협상 상황에서의 대표적 고정관념인 고정된 파이인식과, 2) 협상 상대방의 첫 제안에 대응하는 역제안의 강도, 그리고 3) 협상 과정에서 상대방에 대하여 느끼는 신뢰에 미치는 영향에 대한 가설을 제시하고 검증하였다. 대학생 146명이 참가한 컴퓨터 매개 (computer mediated) 협상 롤플레이의 결과 인지적 종료욕구는 협상자의 고정된 파이인식에는 유의미한 정(+)의 영향을, 협상 상대방에 대한 신뢰에는 유의미한 부(-)의 영향을 주었으나, 역제안의강도에는 유의미한 영향을 주지 않았다. 본 연구는 협상의 과정과 결과에 중요한 영향을 주는 고정된 파이인식의 선행요인을 밝혔다는 점과 개인의 특성이, 협상의 경제적인 성과와는 별개로, 협상 상대방에 대한 신뢰에직접적인 영향을 준다는 것을 보였다는 점에서 다양한 이론적, 실무적 시사점을 제공한다. 특히 본 연구의결과는 최근 연구가 많이 되고 있는 협상자들의 주관적 가치 연구에 개인차 요인들에 대한 고려가 더 많이되어야 함을 보여주는 것이라 할 수 있다.

In most cases, negotiators do not have much information about the other party’s situation. For example, they neither know the other party’s alternatives nor the true value of the negotiated agreement. For this reason, most negotiators rely not on the objective information and rationale but on the subjective feelings and heuristics when they set the goal and judge their negotiation performance. More specifically, negotiators often rely on stereotypes and biased cognitions when they make a critical decisions during the neogtiation process. as a result, the final agreements are often unsatisfactory and deficient. Since the stereotypes and cognitive biases negatively influence the negotiation results, it is theoretically and practically important to find out who would be more or less influenced by those restricted rationality during the negotiation processes. Previous studies have found that individuals with high need for cognitive closure (NFC), the desire for a definite answer to a question and the avoidance of ambiguity, are more likely to make decisions heuristically. Since high NFC individuals want to finish cognitive effort to find answers soon, they quickly take socially accepted notions such as stereotypes and rely on them in decision making. They also demonstrate characteristics such as high closed-mindedness (or low open-mindedness). In the current study, we investigate whether NFC significantly affect negotiators’ reliance on fixed-pie perception, a typical negotiator’s stereotype which see the counterpart's interests and priorities are in direct opposition to the negotiator's own interests and priorities. We also investigate whether NFC increases the strength of the negotiators’ first counter offer. Finally, we test if NFC affects the feelings of trust on the counterpart. To test our hypotheses, we conducted computer-mediated negotiation role-plays. 146 university students participated the role play where a new employee and a HR manager negotiate about the new employee’s work conditions. Subjects were invited at a time to participate in the role play in the behavioral lab where ten computers were located. Participants were not allowed to talk each other and they could engaged in the role play only through the computer. we measured paritcipants’ NFC and fixed-pie perception before the role play and their trust on the counterpartafter the role play. Our results showed that NFC significantly increases fixed-pie perception and decreases trust on the counterpart. However, contrary to our expectation, NFC did not affect the strength of the first counter offer made by the subjects. The results of the current study reveal that individual traits such as NFC can directly affect the processes and results of negotiation, supporting the ideas of the individual differences school of negotiation research. The results of the current study also demonstrate that negotiators’ subjective feelings after the negotiation such as the trust on counterpart can be determined by individual traits even before the negotiation. Our results show that the research on negotiators’ subjective feelings can be benefitted by considering the effects of individual traits.