Small talk results in big benefits for male negotiators, new research suggests
Small talk results in big benefits for male negotiators, new research suggests
It’s a somewhat obvious truth that women have known for millennia: being friendly and taking an interest in your counterpart can produce better outcomes in business. But now an experimental study by the Academy of Management has backed this up with some alarming numbers. Strong and silent types, read on.
A pair of male and female researchers asked 202 members of an online community how much they would be prepared to pay for a piece of land. Sometimes the researchers made small talk with the participants; sometimes they didn’t. When the male researcher engaged in small talk the average offer he received increased from $10,243 to $10872, an increase of more than $600.
Who knew talking about the weather was so profitable? "As compared to women” explained the study's authors “men are described as less communal, and, thus, for example, as less communicative, sociable, or concerned about others. Because for men communality is not assumed, they may profit a great deal from showing communal behaviours."
This perhaps explains the other finding of the experiment; that women did not benefit from using small talk. However the study author’s pointed out this doesn’t prove small talk does any harm. According to Brooke Shaughnessy, from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Germany. "For women, negotiations will always be socially risky, and it appears they need to find other ways than small talk to cultivate a positive regard in their counterparts."
You can read the Academy of Management’s full report here.
It’s a somewhat obvious truth that women have known for millennia: being friendly and taking an interest in your counterpart can produce better outcomes in business. But now an experimental study by the Academy of Management has backed this up with some alarming numbers. Strong and silent types, read on.
A pair of male and female researchers asked 202 members of an online community how much they would be prepared to pay for a piece of land. Sometimes the researchers made small talk with the participants; sometimes they didn’t. When the male researcher engaged in small talk the average offer he received increased from $10,243 to $10872, an increase of more than $600.
Who knew talking about the weather was so profitable? "As compared to women” explained the study's authors “men are described as less communal, and, thus, for example, as less communicative, sociable, or concerned about others. Because for men communality is not assumed, they may profit a great deal from showing communal behaviours."
This perhaps explains the other finding of the experiment; that women did not benefit from using small talk. However the study author’s pointed out this doesn’t prove small talk does any harm. According to Brooke Shaughnessy, from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Germany. "For women, negotiations will always be socially risky, and it appears they need to find other ways than small talk to cultivate a positive regard in their counterparts."
You can read the Academy of Management’s full report here.
