Women Are Better Negotiators, Says Tel Aviv U.

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  1

  Acerebel

  07/01/08 | Report as spam

  Confirmation of what we've always known

  It's good to see confirmation via academic rigor about something most of us have always known.
  
  Women spend all their lives in negotiation, doncha know?
  
  It begins with "Can you get up and put the coffee on?" and runs through to "What's for breakfast, Mum? ... No, I don't want that!" to "Yes, that tie looks good, but what about the one you bought last week? It might do better." to "You can go out with Dwayne tonight if you clean your bedroom when you get home from school. Yes, that's fair, young lady." and stops at the end of a long day that's covered a thousand other small and large negotiations when we say "Okay, if you can just stand having my sister here for one week, you can take off with the guys and go fishing when she's gone. Let's get to sleep now, okay?"
  
  Our lives are all about compromise, solution, fixing it, keeping the majority happy while achieving the objective, avoiding tension, resolving dispute, getting on with the job in comfortable ways.
  
  We are not, by contrast with the other gender, all about stalking the prey, ambushing the antelope, spearing the mammoth, eating the still-warm liver of the bison, or telling ever taller tales about the hunt around the campfire.

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  jsargent

  07/02/08 | Report as spam

  I don't entirely agree.

  Negotiation is learnt by example. Since the stereotypes at home in many cultures show women in a more negotiative role then it is natural for this to transfer to the daughters. However, in a modern family this is less likely to be the case. In generation X since both men and women work, women have more control over the family and both parents are forced to accept an equal role. This means that for generation Y there is probably less difference that the research would otherwise show. I think that most people aggree that in the future there will be fewer differences between the sexes. (In other words I think this kind of research is sexist at a time when people are already changing as a matter of necessity in modern nations.)

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  paularu

  07/02/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Women Are Better Negotiators, Says Tel Aviv U.

  Women (or men) are not better negotiators than the other sex. In most cultures, women are allowed to agree with those around them regardless of hierarchical structures. Men, on the other hand, are often seen as weak or inadequate in their leadership skills if they listen to or concede to the informed opinions of those around them. Both men and women tend to lean toward a "genderlect" (Barbara Tannen) style that can be described as either "masculine" or "feminine". I am a woman and I don't often use qualifiers at the end of my sentences. In Japan, it is the cultural norm for both men and women to do this in order to maintain a deep-seated cultural norm. Most of us incorporate to some degree both of these "genderlect" styles under different sets of circumstances and with diverse audiences/stakeholders. A definitive statement about whether men or women are better negotiators is indeed flawed.

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  jpfindy

  07/02/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Women Are Better Negotiators, Says Tel Aviv U.

  more men are decision makers.
  fill in the blanks.

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  Sebrobin

  07/02/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Women Are Better Negotiators, Says Tel Aviv U.

  Well done to those who have responded so far (Acerebal, Jsargent, Paularu). There are less differences and this is becoming increasingly true. It is indeed time to stop comparing genders through sexist research that does not achieve anything particularly constructive.

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  Peter Dilger

  07/06/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Women Are Better Negotiators, Says Tel Aviv U.

  Women, she found, were more generous in their offers, more motivated to create win-win results, and better at facilitating interaction between the parties.
  
  This begs the question about the quality of the outcomes - does this willingness to offer a generous solution mean that a tough male negotiator facing a female, whilst still achieving win-win, gets the best of the deal?
  
  Peter Dilger

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  al.lock@...

  07/21/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Women Are Better Negotiators, Says Tel Aviv U.

  Is being more generous actually better? Isn't the point to a negotiation to get the best deal (above the walk away point) for your side and still close the deal?