A NEW METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF INTERPERSONAL INFLUENCETACTICS - A TEST DRIVE OF A BEHAVIORAL SCHEME

The purpose of the paper is to examine the usefulness of a new scheme for analyzing interpersonal influence tactics. Observational methods a re used to study negotiation processes specifically. Fifty-eight busin esspeople participated in a two-person, face-to-face buyer-seller nego tiation simulation. All 29 interactions were tape-recorded and then tr anscribed. Conversational content, linguistic structure, and paralingu istic variables were coded. Relationships among the behaviors measured and a variety of other criteria were used to explore the utility of t he scheme. Variables in the scheme were found to be related to survey measures of similar concepts, gender, role of the bargainer, and negot iation outcomes. Directions for future research are discussed.