| Statement of the Problem. This study examines the effects of culture and other aspects of the individual negotiator's background (sex, occupation, personality) on bargaining behavior in four hypothetical negotiating situations. Pruitt's demand/concession model is used to identify critical elements in the bargaining relationship, including self's offers, limit and level of aspiration and the other's expected limit, concession rate and frequency over a number of rounds of a negotiation.;T-tests are utilized to determine statistically significant differences between the nationality groups and among the three occupational groups (students, businesspersons and diplomats) in each national group. Analysis of variance is used to determine the interrelationship of the individual's background and the negotiating behavior of the subjects.;Results. (1) Among American and Japanese subjects who chose to participate in the early rounds of the negotiations, there was no statistically significant difference in the magnitude of the mean offers of the two groups; however, a statistically significant difference was noted in American and Japanese estimates of the other's final offer. (2) There was a statistically significant difference in terms of the number of Americans and Japanese who responded to the other's demands under all negotiating conditions in the early rounds of play; Americans tended to respond more quickly with some counteroffer, regardless of the toughness of the other's initial demands. (3) The behavior of the opponent had an impact on the bargaining behavior of the subjects in the study. (4) American students tended to be more conciliatory in their offers and more pessimistic about the other's projected final demand than American businesspersons and diplomats. Japanese student offers and estimates of the other's final offer did not yield statistically significant differences when compared to Japanese businesspersons and diplomats.;Method. A sample of 89 subjects, 48 Americans and 41 Japanese, completed a 36 page written questionnaire. It included a psychological test, an attitude survey and four hypothetical negotiations. Each negotiation represented a distinctive concession pattern and presented the subjects with a set of programmed demands. The questionnaire was administered in Japanese to Japanese subjects, none of whom had lived in the United States for more than one year. |
