Psychology of Negotiation

Instructions for writing the term paper

You are required to write a term paper for the course. It should be double-spaced, and no
longer than 8 pages of text (not including the references or supplementary materials). The
page limit will be strictly enforced; exceeding it will result in loss of points. Submit the
paper to your respective TAs on Canvas. Make sure to follow these guidelines:

Topic
Select a topic that is central to the course. Focus on a particular question, research it, go
beyond the papers in the syllabus and demonstrate your knowledge from class and
readings. Examples of possible topics (feel free to actually use any of these examples):
• What is the role of power in negotiations?
• What are the psychological barriers for optimal agreements?
• What is the role of coalitions in multi-party negotiations?
• How does culture affect negotiation?
Note that the focus should be descriptive or explanatory (i.e. how or why questions), not
normative or prescriptive (i.e. not what people should do or how they can improve their
performance). In other words, focus on the psychology behind the negotiation.

Paper topic approval

• Submit a description of your plan for the paper including topic, basic idea, and
references. One page double spaced max.
• Submit the topic summary (plus sample references) to your TA on time as spelled out in
the syllabus..

Structure
Include the following sections but feel free to adjust given your topic.
1. The problem: briefly describe the particular problem (the main issue or question)
with which you are dealing. If relevant, you can provide examples from current
events, history, etc.
2. The research findings: describe empirical research (the source of which should be
academic peer-reviewed journals, not mass media) that addresses the problem, and
evaluate it critically. This is the bulk of the paper. You should focus on the research
question they are trying to address, methods, and general pattern of results (no
stats!)
3. Discuss limitations of the research findings. Critically evaluate whether the results
and methods support the research question. Propose possible future directions for
research (short).
4. Sources: Whenever you rely on any source you should make sure to cite it. Internet
URLs are not acceptable sources, only materials published in scholarly venues
(articles, books). You must format your paper according to APA style (see below).
Use only the most relevant sources. Do not try to fill up space by using multiple
sources for a particular point. Try to avoid direct quotations. It is much more
preferable for you to paraphrase a point you want to comment on. When you do
quote, make sure to use APA format.
 5. References: Add a reference section in the end where you will list your sources. For
each reference provide us with the abstract (see sample below; if abstract cannot be
copy and pasted, provide a screenshot of it). There is no page limit on the reference
section so it will not count towards the allotted 8 pages.

Style
Follow the American Psychological Association format; you can find information on it on the
web. For example, check http://library.concordia.ca/help/howto/apa.php. This is particularly
important in referring to papers in the text and reporting the papers in the reference section. If
you have any questions or confusions about formatting your paper, be sure to ask your TA.

Notes
• The most important thing to keep in mind is this: Write for an uninformed, yet intelligent
reader. Do not write for us; that is, do not assume we already know the material. Your
writing should be easily understood by a friend who does not know the material.
• Do not accept claims from the literature uncritically, or simply because claims
appear to “make sense.” Evaluate everything with a skeptical eye, but explain
exactly why you are critical of any claim, avoid “empty” criticism.
• Before submitting the paper, revise it several times! Ask friends who are not
familiar with the material to give you critical comments. This will improve your
paper immensely.
• If you need help generating an idea or help with researching your topic, contact
your TAs. We will not read drafts.
• In case you are not familiar with how to search the literature contact your TA or a
reference librarian.
• We will not accept extensions for the final paper, please plan accordingly.
Sample Reference Section

References

Keysar, B., Hayakawa, S., and An, S. G. (2012). The foreign language effect: Thinking in a
foreign tongue reduces decision biases. Psychological Science, 23, 661 - 668.

Abstract: Would you make the same decisions in a foreign language as you would in your
native tongue? It may be intuitive that people would make the same choices regardless of
the language they are using, or that the difficulty of using a foreign language would make
decisions less systematic. We discovered, however, that the opposite is true: Using a
foreign language reduces decision-making biases. Four experiments show that the framing
effect disappears when choices are presented in a foreign tongue. Whereas people were risk
averse for gains and risk seeking for losses when choices were presented in their native
tongue, they were not influenced by this framing manipulation in a foreign language. Two
additional experiments show that using a foreign language reduces loss aversion, increasing
the acceptance of both hypothetical and real bets with positive expected value. We propose
that these effects arise because a foreign language provides greater cognitive and emotional
distance than a native tongue does.

Lev-Ari, S. and Keysar, B. (2010). Why don’t we believe non-native speakers? The
influence of accent on credibility. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46,
1093–1096.

Abstract: Non-native speech is harder to understand than native speech. We demonstrate

that this “processing difficulty” causes non-native speakers to sound less credible. People
judged trivia statements such as “Ants don't sleep” as less true when spoken by a non-
native than a native speaker. When people were made aware of the source of their difficulty
they were able to correct when the accent was mild but not when it was heavy. This effect
was not due to stereotypes of prejudice against foreigners because it occurred even though
speakers were merely reciting statements provided by a native speaker. Such reduction of
credibility may have an insidious impact on millions of people, who routinely communicate
in a language which is not their native tongue.