Q & A Table of Contents
Psychology and BATNA — What’s It All About?
From: Yenlung, Johor, Malaysia
Question: Are there psychological principles that will cause negotiators to have difficulty making a decision? Why this is important? And why is it important not to allow the other party to manipulate or discover my BATNA?
Response: Your short question covers a broad range of issues.
Every person’s personality has an impact on his/her capacity to make decisions; whether these are psychological or circumstantial varies not only from person to person, but also from situation to situation. For example, if a negotiator feels she or he has less power than the other party, that can hamper his/her level of confidence in decision-making. Similarly, if one of the parties is an expert in the subject being discussed and the other lacks knowledge, it is likely the less knowledgable person will have more difficulty deciding whether a proposal is a good or bad idea.
Many people tend to enter into negotiation lacking confidence in their own capacity to reach a favorable conclusion. This may relate to the psychological make-up of their personality — but in the majority of cases, lack of confidence is far more likely to result from a lack of preparation before negotiating. An unprepared negotiator is significantly less competent — and less able to recognize whether something is good or bad for them — than someone who has done their homework.
On the opposite side of the equation, some people’s psychological make up creates difficulty in them for recognizing the relative wisdom of a negotiation result — and as a consequence they won’t listen to other parties’ ideas. They paint themselves into a corner and will risk losing face if they ultimately change their minds.
As regards BATNA: another party cannot manipulate your BATNA. She or he may attempt to take advantage of what they have learned about your BATNA — but they cannot change it directly. Negotiators’ BATNAs change as they gather information during the negotiation process — when they learn that assumptions they have made about other parties are correct or invalid. Thus BATNA is a dynamic element in negotiation which changes throughout the process. A strong BATNA does not guarantee success, nor does a weak BATNA guarantee failure. Negotiators need to understand their BATNA both before and during the process — and accept what their understanding of their BATNA tells them — and then use whatever limitations they face to maximum advantage.
Revealing BATNA elements can be extremely powerful rather than always a weakness. If you are negotiating with more than one supplier, letting one or more of them know that they have competition is a BATNA revelation that can strengthen you. Sometimes it is similarly helpful to reveal your deadline to a party who’s threatening to waste your time; other times if other parties know your deadline they can use it to pressure you to make an unfavorable deal.
The issues you’ve raised are complex and change with every negotiation and every negotiator. Hard and fast rules can get you into trouble; creativity and flexibility can help a negotiator be more effective and more confident.
Good luck,
Steve
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