Social Anxiety and Negotiation: The Effects of Attentional Focus

social anxiety;negotiation;self-focus;external-focus;Psychology

Gavric, Dubravka

University of Waterloo

关键词: social anxiety;    negotiation;    self-focus;    external-focus;    Psychology;   

Others  :  https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/5357/1/MAThesis_DubravkaGavric2010.pdf

瑞士|英语

来源: UWSPACE Waterloo Institutional Repository

【 摘 要 】

Negotiation poses a unique challenge in the modern workplace which is likely to beespecially difficult for socially anxious individuals. Previous research has shown thatexternally focused attention strategies are useful at alleviating social anxiety symptomsand in helping improve negotiation outcomes; however this intervention has never beenexamined amongst socially anxious negotiators. This study examined the effect of external- and self-focused attention manipulations on anxiety, perspective (observer-field), and monetary negotiation outcomes. Thirty-eight high social anxiety (HSA) and 52 low social anxiety (LSA) female participants completed a dyadic negotiationsimulation with a partner. The external-focus manipulation was successful at increasing attention focus in the desired direction, while the self-focus manipulation was not and, thus, was discarded from subsequent analyses. Results demonstrated that externally focused attention resulted in significant decreases in state anxiety during the negotiation and a significant shift in perspective from observer to field, for participants in both the HSA and LSA groups. However, these changes did not translate into better objective negotiation performance, as measured by the total commission (i.e., money) earned. Theimplications of the results for social anxiety and the development of workplaceintervention programs are discussed.