Dissertation
The situational activation of personality traits and its effect on adaptability: a theory for negotiation adaptability
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
08/2007
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000005687
Abstract
This study applies the-trait-activation theory to the field of national and international dual-business negotiations. The theory provides that each type of situations holds distinguished situational factors; each activates specific personality trait to shape the person's behavior-pattern within a given situation. Negotiations of all types hold two common situational factors: the negotiation type (zero-sum or variable-sum), and the counterpart's style (competitive or cooperative). Researchers recommend that negotiators should adapt their styles to match these situational factors to achieve the highest possible outcome across situations. High adaptability requires careful planning of an attainable negotiation goal for each negotiation type, accurate estimate of the counterpart's style. Then the negotiator should apply the appropriate competitive or cooperative style. It is evident that not all negotiators can be adaptable, which reflects the role of personality traits in shaping adaptability. It is not known which traits are triggered by the common situational factors in a manner that enables negotiators to be adaptable. I argue that the two major situational factors activate two traits: dispositional goalorientation, and reciprocity orientation. The rational for these traits is explained in the adaptability theory. followed the proposed plan for the empirical part and delivered most of the expected results. Most hypotheses are significant, which supports of the adaptability theory. The main effects of mastery and reciprocity orientation are significant. The moderating effects for these two traits were significant. Mastery oriented negotiators adapt better in variable-sum situations. Reciprocity oriented negotiators adapt better in front of cooperative counterparts. I developed an instrument for negotiation adaptability. For such an exploratory study with many limitations, the results are a break through start on the road of investigating effects of personality traits on negotiation adaptability. It paved the road for a rich future research agenda to build a more comprehensive theory of negotiation adaptability and a complete personality profile of the adaptable negotiator.
Metrics
4 File views/ downloads
23 Record Views
Details
- Title
- The situational activation of personality traits and its effect on adaptability
- Creators
- Eman Lotfy Elshenawy
- Contributors
- Stergios B. Fotopoulos (Chair)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Carson College of Business
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 163
- Identifiers
- 99901054938301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation