Appreciation of directness in salary negotiations, impact of accommodation and culture.

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2024-07-04

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en

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This study investigates the effect of culture and communication accommodation on speaker appreciation of directness in business negotiations. Based on Communication Accommodation Theory (Giles, 1973) the study sought to find differences in speaker appreciation between Dutch and French culture. The Netherlands and France were chosen as they differ in directness in communication (Le Pair & Van Mulken, 2008). A total of 59 participants took part in an experiment. Subjects were asked to listen to recordings of salary negotiations between an employee and their manager. Half of the participants listened to a recording in which the employee maintained an indirect communication style throughout the interview and half of the participants listened to a recording in which the employee started the negotiation using an indirect communication style but converged to a direct communication style at the end of the negotiation. Afterwards subjects filled out a questionnaire, evaluating the employee on success, efficiency, professionalism, pleasantness, and politeness. French participants showed a strong preference for maintaining indirect communication whereas there Dutch participants did not have a significant preference.

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Faculteit der Letteren