Adaptive Appraisals of Anxiety Moderate the Association between Cortisol Reactivity and Performance in Salary Negotiations

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 12; p. e0167977
• Main Authors: Akinola, Modupe, Fridman, Ilona, Mor, Shira, Morris, Michael W., Crum, Alia J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 16.12.2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Anxiety; Anxiety - metabolism; Anxiety - psychology; Appraisals; Biology and Life Sciences; Business schools; Cortisol; Development and progression; Female; Gender differences; Hormones; Humans; Hydrocortisone; Hydrocortisone - analysis; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Negotiating - psychology; Negotiations; Neurobiology; People and Places; Performance appraisal; Physiological aspects; Physiological effects; Physiological responses; Physiology; Psychological aspects; Random Allocation; Salaries and Fringe Benefits; Social Sciences; Stress; Students; Studies; Women; Young Adult; United States; New York; Israel; Tel Aviv Israel; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167977

Prior research suggests that stress can be harmful in high-stakes contexts such as negotiations. However, few studies actually measure stress physiologically during negotiations, nor do studies offer interventions to combat the potential negative effects of heightened physiological responses in negotiation contexts. In the current research, we offer evidence that the negative effects of cortisol increases on negotiation performance can be reduced through a reappraisal of anxiety manipulation. We experimentally induced adaptive appraisals by randomly assigning 97 male and female participants to receive either instructions to appraise their anxiety as beneficial to the negotiation or no specific instructions on how to appraise the situation. We also measured participants' cortisol responses prior to and following the negotiation. Results revealed that cortisol increases were positively related to negotiation performance for participants who were told to view anxiety as beneficial, and not detrimental, for negotiation performance (appraisal condition). In contrast, cortisol increases were negatively related to negotiation performance for participants given no instructions on appraising their anxiety (control condition). These findings offer a means through which to combat the potentially deleterious effects of heightened cortisol reactivity on negotiation outcomes.