Reciprocity in negotiations: An analysis of bargaining interaction

This investigation examined the effects of bargainer role and sex‐role composition on the frequencies and sequences of bargaining talk. Thirty‐two male and thirty‐two female bargainers were assigned to labor‐management roles in same‐sex or mixed‐sex dyads to bargain a simulated grievance case. A modified version of the Bargaining Process Analysis (BPA) was employed to test for reciprocity of bargaining strategies. The findings demonstrated that management representatives relied on defensive tactics while labor negotiators specialized in offensive maneuvers; these strategies emerged in the interaction structure of negotiators, especially in their use of attack‐defend and offensive‐information giving patterns. Impasse dyads, as compared with agreement pairs, exhibited a tightly‐structured, reciprocal pattern of attack‐attack or defend‐defend, with management initiating this cycle.