How unconscious beliefs and attitudes affect the outcome of negotiations

Shockingly, I have discovered that I have a slight automatic preference for people of European descent over those of African descent. I know this because I recently completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) which measures the strength of associations between concepts (e.g. black people, gay people), evaluations (e.g. good, bad) and stereotypes (e.g. athletic, clumsy).

The IAT that I used, which was developed by psychologists at Harvard and Virginia universities, measures attitudes and beliefs that people may be unwilling or unable to report. This kind of test is especially interesting when it shows that people have implicit attitudes they did not know about.

In the context of training and development on negotiation skills, the concept of unconscious bias is something I recently explored with the in-house legal team at a major financial institution. Negotiation is a well studied and thought out area that is interdisciplinary in nature. It covers conflict resolution, dispute resolution, international politics, psychology, sociology, economic theory (how we place a value) and game theory (to name a few).

But most importantly of all, it concerns communication. Negotiation is the process of communicating back and forth for the purpose of reaching a joint decision. And it is not easy. People in close, loving relationships have misunderstandings every day.

The literature on negotiation has, for a long time, identified two broad strategies: adversarial (positional); or problem solving (interests).

Adversarial negotiators take positions and figure out if there is overlap with the other party that could lead to settlement. Positions are substitutes for an in-depth understanding of what the other side is doing; we take a position and then watch the other side's reaction.

Problem-solving bargainers attempt to identify underlying needs and goals and seek to find win-win solutions. Here, there is often an interest in a long-term relationship.

But, more recently, there has been a growing body of research looking at the role of bias and mental models. In particular, this looks at how our minds operate shortcuts to get to an end goal and that, in taking these shortcuts, it is necessary to make assumptions.

This is often a very efficient way of using our processing power. For example, when our ancestors found themselves in the Savannah of Africa and saw a lion, it wouldn't have benefited them to pause and reflect on the underlying needs and interests of the lion. They could take a shortcut that would quickly assume those intentions involved lunch for the lion and a messy end for themselves.

To an extent, our 'early' brains are still at play. Unconscious beliefs and attitudes have been found to be associated with language and certain behaviours. These biases, often learnt at an early age, affect how we think, feel and act.

So, when preparing for any negotiation, we would do well to consider our perceptual lens. Otherwise we may find that the biggest unintended obstacle to a successful outcome is ourselves. And we should be careful not conform to a stylised view of a 'negotiation' as something that only happens in a meeting room when there is tea and biscuits present. We would do well to recognise the presence of unconscious bias in everyday negotiations with our colleagues, peers, spouses, children, and so on.

Thankfully, evidence shows that just taking an IAT can bring awareness. It can bring things into our consciousness, like shining a light into a cave. If people are aware of their hidden biases, they can attempt to ameliorate hidden attitudes before they are expressed through their behaviour. I for one am grateful for the insights obtained.

Greg Bott is head of the client development centre at UK law firm Addleshaw Goddard (www.addleshawgoddard.com) and a research associate at Henley Business School, University of Reading.