Open AccessNEGOTIATION IN LEADER AND DELEGATE GROUPS 1
Author(s) -
Hermann Margaret G.,
Kogan Nathan
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
ets research bulletin series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2333-8504
pISSN - 0424-6144
DOI - 10.1002/j.2333-8504.1967.tb00704.x
Subject(s) - negotiation , delegate , compromise , flexibility (engineering) , political science , position (finance) , order (exchange) , public relations , psychology , business , law , management , computer science , economics , programming language , finance
Negotiations among leaders were compared with negotiations among delegates in order to investigate the effect of role in the reference group on intergroup bargaining behavior. The negotiations of ten groups of leaders and ten groups of delegates matched on initial positions were examined. Because of their greater flexibility and authority, leaders were expected to spend less time negotiating and have fewer deadlocks than delegates. Neither of these hypotheses was supported. Leaders and delegates, however, were found to resolve their conflicts in different ways. While delegates more often reached agreement through compromise, leaders were more likely to choose one party's position. Thus, delegates tended to converge upon the average of their initial positions while leaders showed a significant change in the risky direction. Leaders' and delegates' reactions to their negotiations were also analyzed. In general, the results suggested that leaders can be influenced more by other leaders than delegates can by other delegates.