Choosing a Group Representative: The Impact of Perceived Organizational Support on the Preferences for Deviant Representatives in Work Negotiations

Abstract Group representative selection in negotiation is a topic that has only recently attracted researchers’ attention. This article focuses on workplace negotiations and examines how employees’ selection of representatives depends on their level of perceived organizational support ( POS ). We predict and show that employees who experience high levels of POS send to the negotiation table ingroup representatives who are perceived as close to (rather than distant from) the management team. The first study establishes the effect. The second study replicates the findings and investigates the underlying mechanisms. Results show that POS impacts endorsement of pro‐management representatives through an increased perception that these deviant members are typical of the employee's group. Change in perceived typicality is triggered by POS directly and via an increase in employees’ organizational identification. We discuss of the positive and negative consequences for groups who send to the negotiation representatives who are close to the opposing group.