Abstract

Three experiments explored the role of negotiator focus in disconnecting negotiated outcomes and evaluations. Negotiators who focused on their target prices, the ideal outcome they could obtain, achieved objectively superior outcomes compared with negotiators who focused on their lower bound (e.g., reservation price). Those negotiators who focused on their targets, however, were less satisfied with their objectively superior outcomes. In the final experiment, when negotiators were reminded of their lower bound after the negotiation, the satisfaction of those negotiators who had focused on their target prices was increased, with outcomes and evaluations becoming connected rather than disconnected. The possible negative effects of setting high goals and the temporal dimensions of the disconnection and reconnection between outcomes and evaluations are discussed. Given that so many important aspects of life depend on the outcomes of negotiations, it seems natural that people try to maximize their potential gains when negotiating with others. To procure beneficial outcomes, negotiators should set aggressive, motivating goals for themselves. In fact, many negotiators do set high goals (Kelley, 1966), and there is a relationship between the

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