Previous research on negotiation has assumed that social interaction in itself is positively related to the quality of negotiation outcomes. Accordingly, negotiation guidebooks advise to always seek social exchange in order to improve the status quo. In a series of five studies, the influence of social interaction on negotiation results was quantified. This constituted a first-time test of the aforementioned assumption. Across four studies, social interaction led to a significantly higher agreement rate. This effect fell to non-significance when opportunity costs were introduced in the last study. All in all, the work at hand supported the hypothesis that social interaction has a positive impact on the quality of negotiation outcomes.
Keywords: negotiation; social interaction; agreement rate
