The social effects of anger in international negotiations: The role of self-regulation and bargaining power

<p>This thesis addresses recent calls to investigate the influence of individual differences in a negotiation context. Specifically, I investigate the impact of the personality difference, action orientation versus state orientation, on concessionary behaviour in international negotiations. This personality difference was chosen because it measures a negotiator’s capacity to self-regulate (control their behaviour) in a cognitively demanding situation like an international negotiation. I propose that action oriented negotiators will display superior self-regulation ability, compared to state oriented negotiators. Specifically, action oriented negotiators will be able to adapt their response and concede less than state oriented negotiators, when a foreign counterpart displays anger. In two online studies, I measure how action oriented and state oriented negotiators respond to a display of anger from a foreign counterpart in an international negotiation. The first study of 159 negotiators showed that action oriented individuals conceded fewer points than state oriented individuals, regardless of whether the counterpart displayed anger. The second study of 260 negotiators showed that action oriented individuals can adapt their behaviour according to their level of power in an international negotiation when facing an angry counterpart. As far as I am aware, this research is one of the first to propose and test the salience of action orientation versus state orientation on displays of anger in international negotiations. My findings highlight the value of incorporating individual differences in negotiation studies and I propose their inclusion into the dominant theoretical framework of how negotiators respond to anger. In addition to extending the model, I discuss how understanding these personality differences can be useful for multinational companies and their international negotiators.</p>

The social effects of anger in international negotiations: The role of self-regulation and bargaining power

<p>This thesis addresses recent calls to investigate the influence of individual differences in a negotiation context. Specifically, I investigate the impact of the personality difference, action orientation versus state orientation, on concessionary behaviour in international negotiations. This personality difference was chosen because it measures a negotiator’s capacity to self-regulate (control their behaviour) in a cognitively demanding situation like an international negotiation. I propose that action oriented negotiators will display superior self-regulation ability, compared to state oriented negotiators. Specifically, action oriented negotiators will be able to adapt their response and concede less than state oriented negotiators, when a foreign counterpart displays anger. In two online studies, I measure how action oriented and state oriented negotiators respond to a display of anger from a foreign counterpart in an international negotiation. The first study of 159 negotiators showed that action oriented individuals conceded fewer points than state oriented individuals, regardless of whether the counterpart displayed anger. The second study of 260 negotiators showed that action oriented individuals can adapt their behaviour according to their level of power in an international negotiation when facing an angry counterpart. As far as I am aware, this research is one of the first to propose and test the salience of action orientation versus state orientation on displays of anger in international negotiations. My findings highlight the value of incorporating individual differences in negotiation studies and I propose their inclusion into the dominant theoretical framework of how negotiators respond to anger. In addition to extending the model, I discuss how understanding these personality differences can be useful for multinational companies and their international negotiators.</p>

How to understand diversity in citizens’ care attitudes: an exploratory study in the Netherlands

The aim of this study is to investigate Dutch citizens’ care attitudes by looking at care-giving norms and citizens’ welfare state orientation and to explore to what extent these attitudes can be explained by combinations of diversity characteristics. We combined two datasets (2016 and 2018, N = 5,293) containing citizens’ opinions regarding society and conducted multivariate linear and ordered probit regression analyses. An intersectional perspective was adopted to explore the influence of combinations of diversity characteristics. Results show that citizens’ care-giving norms are relatively strong, meaning they believe persons in need of care should receive help from their families or social networks. However, citizens consider the government responsible for care as well. Men, younger people, people in good health and people of non-Western origin have stronger care-giving norms than others, and younger people assign relatively more responsibility to the family than the government. Level of education and religiosity are also associated with care attitudes. Primary diversity dimensions are more related to care attitudes than secondary, circumstantial dimensions. Some of the secondary dimensions interact with primary dimensions. These insights offer policy makers, social workers and (allied) health professionals the opportunity to align with citizens’ care attitudes, as results show that people vary to a large extent in their care-giving norms and welfare state orientation.

Volitional Action Control and Depression in Chronic Pain: Does Action versus State Orientation Moderate the Relations of Pain-Related Cognitions to Depression?

In this study, we examined the conditional indirect and direct relations of pain-related cognitions to depression. Subjective helplessness was included as presumably mediating the relations of catastrophizing and thought suppression to depression due to motivational deficits. In addition, moderating effects of dispositional action versus state orientation were analyzed, whereby state orientation indicates volitional deficits in coping with distress. The study was based on self-report data from 536 patients with chronic non-specific low back pain at the beginning of inpatient rehabilitation. Moderated mediation analyses were performed. The indirect catastrophizing- and thought suppression-depression relations were (partially) mediated by subjective helplessness; and moderated by failure-related action versus state orientation. Moreover, action versus state orientation moderated the direct relation of thought suppression to depression. Results suggest that catastrophizing, thought suppression, and subjective helplessness do not lead to depression unless associated with self-regulatory inability (i.e., state orientation). In contrast, action-oriented patients more effectively self-regulate pain-related emotions, disengage from rumination, and distract from pain and thus better avoid the debilitating effects of negative pain-related cognitions on depression. Future research and treatment may more strongly focus on the role of motivational and volitional deficits underlying learned helplessness and depression in chronic pain.

Breaking the Chains: The Inverted-U-Shaped Relationship Between Action-State Orientation and Creativity Under Low Job Autonomy

When the social fabric of organizations limits individual autonomy, new ideas are needed that satisfy a person’s will as well as the constraints imposed by the social context. To explain when people achieve this synthesis and display creativity under low job autonomy, we examine the influence of their action-state orientation. The theory of action versus state orientation contrasts two responses people display when faced by a situation that conflicts with their will. An action-oriented response entails that people readily disengage from processing the situation and initiate goal-striving, while a state-oriented response entails that people remain focused on the situation. We argue that creativity under low job autonomy requires the integration of the competing processes underlying action and state orientation and is most frequently displayed by people in the midrange of the action-state orientation continuum. We test this theorizing with three studies. In a constrained laboratory setting, we induced a focus on an unwanted situation and demonstrated an inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and creativity. A field study showed that the inverted-U-shaped relationship between action-state orientation and daily self-reports of creativity was strongest under low job autonomy and disappeared under high job autonomy. A multisource study replicated and extended these relationships using managerial ratings of creativity.

Endurance and avoidance response patterns in pain patients: Application of action control theory in pain research

Background Identifying pain-related response patterns and understanding functional mechanisms of symptom formation and recovery are important for improving treatment. Objectives We aimed to replicate pain-related avoidance-endurance response patterns associated with the Fear-Avoidance Model, and its extension, the Avoidance-Endurance Model, and examined their differences in secondary measures of stress, action control (i.e., dispositional action vs. state orientation), coping, and health. Methods Latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted on self-report data from 536 patients with chronic non-specific low back pain at the beginning of an inpatient rehabilitation program. Measures of stress (i.e., pain, life stress) and action control were analyzed as covariates regarding their influence on the formation of different pain response profiles. Measures of coping and health were examined as dependent variables. Results Partially in line with our assumptions, we found three pain response profiles of distress-avoidance, eustress-endurance, and low-endurance responses that are depending on the level of perceived stress and action control. Distress-avoidance responders emerged as the most burdened, dysfunctional patient group concerning measures of stress, action control, maladaptive coping, and health. Eustress-endurance responders showed one of the highest levels of action versus state orientation, as well as the highest levels of adaptive coping and physical activity. Low-endurance responders reported lower levels of stress as well as equal levels of action versus state orientation, maladaptive coping, and health compared to eustress-endurance responders; however, equally low levels of adaptive coping and physical activity compared to distress-avoidance responders. Conclusions Apart from the partially supported assumptions of the Fear-Avoidance and Avoidance-Endurance Model, perceived stress and dispositional action versus state orientation may play a crucial role in the formation of pain-related avoidance-endurance response patterns that vary in degree of adaptiveness. Results suggest tailoring interventions based on behavioral and functional analysis of pain responses in order to more effectively improve patients quality of life.

The effects of pricing strategy on upgrade intentions

PurposeTaking a mental accounting theory perspective, this study explores how pricing strategy (all-inclusive vs partitioned) influences consumers' perceived residual value of a product and their subsequent intentions to upgrade to a newer model.Design/methodology/approachA pilot study and two formal experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses.FindingsA partitioned (vs all-inclusive) price causes consumers to later recall a lower total cost and perceive lower residual value for the existing product, thereby increasing upgrade intentions. This finding holds for both utilitarian and hedonic products. Perceived residual value mediates the impact of the pricing strategy on upgrade intentions. The pricing strategy effect is stronger for state-oriented individuals than for action-oriented individuals.Originality/valueThis study extends understanding of the impact of pricing strategies from consumers' short-term immediate demand to long-term upgrade intentions. It also identifies a previously uninvestigated moderator (action-state orientation), clarifying the boundary conditions of pricing strategy effects. The study's conceptual framework links pricing strategy, sunk costs, perceived residual value and upgrade intentions, providing rich insights and potential research paths. These findings further enhance understanding of upgrade intentions.

The Paradox of Chinese Investments in Sri Lanka: Between Investment Treaty Protection and Commercial Diplomacy

The politically sensitive nature of Chinese investments in Sri Lanka has made investment protection by the China-Sri Lanka BIT highly relevant. However, the treaty has a pro-state orientation, with limited protection for investors. This gives rise to a modern paradox in which China has become the top investor in Sri Lanka, despite the absence of an international protective framework for their activities. Chinese investors are apparently managing this paradox mainly through commercial diplomacy. As an alternative to a rights-based approach, this may signal a return to a power-based approach to settling investment disputes, with the Chinese government a leading actor therein. This will be particularly prominent in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative. While win-win co-operation is a stated principle of Chinese investment policy, whether mutually beneficial outcomes can be sustained with the asymmetrical power dynamics between China and BRI states remains to be seen.