Negotiations are ever present in the business world. As such, negotiators must decide whether it is best to focus on and promote their own interests or work with their counterpart to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. Unfortunately, there is no formal rulebook for negotiations and inevitably sometimes negotiators make unethical decisions in order to claim the most value. But under what circumstances are negotiators likely to make unethical decisions to get ahead in negotiations?

A recent study sought to better understand when negotiators are likely to withhold or misrepresent information. In an employment contract negotiation simulation, they measured two deceptive behaviors known in negotiations as “sins of omission” (withholding information) and “sins of commission” (misrepresenting facts or information). They found that in negotiations where participants were told to adopt an accommodating strategy—one that emphasizes relationship building—male/female dyads were more likely to use deceptive strategies by misrepresenting facts or information than were male/male or female/female dyads. The researchers posit that this relationship occurs as a function of incongruent expectations about the negotiator and gender roles. In general, the negotiator role has traditionally been seen as self-promoting and requires acting one’s own best interest, which is also consistent with male prescribed behavioral stereotypes. Therefore in female/male dyads, both the negotiator role and the gender role of the negotiators are salient. This drives an expectation that the negotiation should be more competitive, and self-interest motivated, which is inconsistent with the accommodation strategy. Subsequently, trust is low from the beginning and the instances and rates of deception, specifically withholding information, increase.

This study illustrates how the context of a negotiation, in particular the gender composition of the negotiating dyad, can ultimately foster unethical decisions in a negotiation. This prompts an important avenue for exploration because male/female negotiations are increasingly prominent in the business world.