Negotiating Gender Roles: Gender Differences in Assertive Negotiating Are Mediated by Women’s Fear of Backlash and Attenuated When Negotiating on Behalf of Others
Women adjust their negotiation strategies according to context, conceding early when they anticipate backlash for violating gender expectations.
Cite this Article
Amanatullah, Emily T., and Michael W. Morris. "Negotiating gender roles: Gender differences in assertive negotiating are mediated by women’s fear of backlash and attenuated when negotiating on behalf of others." Journal of personality and social psychology 98.2 (2010): 256.
Amanatullah, E. T., & Morris, M. W. (2010). Negotiating gender roles: Gender differences in assertive negotiating are mediated by women’s fear of backlash and attenuated when negotiating on behalf of others. Journal of personality and social psychology, 98(2), 256.
Amanatullah, Emily T., and Michael W. Morris. "Negotiating gender roles: Gender differences in assertive negotiating are mediated by women’s fear of backlash and attenuated when negotiating on behalf of others." Journal of personality and social psychology 98, no. 2 (2010): 256.
Authors
This article was written by and , and was originally published by Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in February of 2010Research on competitive business negotiation has found that women are generally less assertive and less successful than men. These findings are especially true in salary negotiations, where women agree to lower outcomes, widening the gender wage gap. Past studies suggests that women and men may come to the table with differing levels of entitlement or self-interest, or that women may be discouraged by social cues that signal assertiveness and do not align with female gender roles.
However, negotiation is not intrinsically “masculine” or “feminine”: while assertive bargaining for one’s own salary may conflict with preconceived stereotypes for women, advocating on behalf of family or friends aligns well with that same stereotype. A prior study found that women negotiating another person’s salary fared better than women negotiating for themselves—suggesting that women actively adjust their behavior according to conversational context.
In this study, the authors examine how women’s negotiation strategies change when they take on gender-congruent roles where they advocate for others, and gender-incongruent roles where they advocate for themselves. Researchers conducted up to five rounds of salary negotiation with a simulated hiring manager to compare aspirations, responses to a low opening offer, and outcomes when women and men bargained for themselves, or on behalf of a friend they had referred for the job.
Cite this Article
Amanatullah, Emily T., and Michael W. Morris. "Negotiating gender roles: Gender differences in assertive negotiating are mediated by women’s fear of backlash and attenuated when negotiating on behalf of others." Journal of personality and social psychology 98.2 (2010): 256.
Amanatullah, E. T., & Morris, M. W. (2010). Negotiating gender roles: Gender differences in assertive negotiating are mediated by women’s fear of backlash and attenuated when negotiating on behalf of others. Journal of personality and social psychology, 98(2), 256.
Amanatullah, Emily T., and Michael W. Morris. "Negotiating gender roles: Gender differences in assertive negotiating are mediated by women’s fear of backlash and attenuated when negotiating on behalf of others." Journal of personality and social psychology 98, no. 2 (2010): 256.
