Goal expectations meet regulatory focus: How appetitive and aversive competition influence negotiation

Although negotiators' motivation has long been a central topic of inquiry, little is known about the effects of competitive motivation on negotiator cognition and behavior. This study addresses these issues by integrating Goal Expectation Theory (Pruitt & Kimmel, 1977), Regulatory Focus Theory (Higgins, 1998), and the Motivated Information Processing Model of Negotiation (De Dreu & Carnevale, 2003). We distinguish between two forms of competitive motivation: Appetitive competition (the desire to come out ahead) and aversive competition (the desire to not fall behind). We examined the interplay between these competitive motives, expectations about one's counterpart's cooperativeness, and negotiators' need for cognitive closure. As predicted, whereas aversive competitors experienced more anxiety than appetitive competitors, and conceded more when they expected a cooperative rather than competitive counterpart, appetitive competitors were not influenced by expectations about their counterpart. These effects were stronger when negotiators had a high rather than low need for cognitive closure and were mediated by anxiety.