Chaps, the next time you’re haggling over a new car or trying to knock a few thousand off a house price, you might want to let your wife take the lead.
That’s because a new study suggests women are every bit as effective as men at striking a deal – but they’re far better at building trust, leaving both sides happier and more willing to negotiate with them again.
Researchers from Cornell University carried out a range of studies that involved both face-to-face and online negotiations.
They discovered that overall, women secured the same financial outcomes as men.
But they were consistently rated higher in building trust, fairness, creating opportunity, communicating and listening.
The team said their findings contradict popular beliefs that greater likeability comes at a cost – and challenges the stereotype that men are inherently better negotiators.
‘So much of negotiation research has really focused on men’s advantages,’ study author Dr Charlotte Townsend said.
‘Our data shows that women are achieving equivalent economic outcomes, and better relational outcomes, compared to men.’
The next time you think you need to channel Peter Jones in a negotiation, you might be better off taking a leaf out of Deborah Meaden’s book, the study suggests
The researchers said there are important consequences to how someone makes you feel during a negotiation.
Rather than simply focusing on getting the best deal in economic terms, relationships can also play a significant role.
‘I think this work demonstrates that women have a real strength that we should be considering more, and that we can all learn from,’ Dr Townsend added.
‘If women are creating better relationship outcomes in negotiations, it makes a lot of sense that their partners would like to negotiate with them more than with men.’
The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, adds: ‘We find that women are liked more than men by their negotiation partners, which in turn increases partner satisfaction and heightens desire for future negotiations with women.
‘Importantly, women achieve economic outcomes on par with men, suggesting that greater likeability does not come at a performance cost.’
In the study, women were consistently more liked even when gender remained unidentified.
‘These findings offer a counterpoint to narratives that emphasize only women’s disadvantages in negotiations,’ it concluded.
Women were rated significantly higher than men in subjective value and desire for future negotiations, the study reveals
Other recent studies have found that women now initiate negotiations more frequently than men, and even outperform men due to their ability to form relationships.
Emerging work also shows that overall, people prefer to negotiate with women.
‘These findings reflect a broader trend of women excelling in domains previously considered masculine,’ the researchers said.
‘This work challenges the stereotype that men are inherently superior negotiators.’
