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We negotiate nearly every day. While the term "negotiation" often brings to mind larger-stake deals, such as the purchase of a new home or car, more often these negotiations are smaller and involve project deadlines at work or divvying up of household responsibilities.
我們差不多每天都在談判。談判這個詞經(jīng)常讓人們想到規(guī)模較大的交易，比如購置新居或者買車；但在更多情況下，我們所談的問題都比較小，內(nèi)容無外乎工作中的項目截止時間或者家庭責(zé)任的分配。
Many of us, myself included, can't stand negotiations whether big or small -- so much so that it comes as a surprise that others actually relish each chance they get to negotiate.
包括我在內(nèi)，我們中的許多人都受不了談判，無論談判的事項是大是小——而且由于談判對我們來說是這么不堪忍受，以至于我們很驚訝，為什么別人會殷切期盼談判的機會。
Regardless of which camp you're in, most of us can relate to the feeling of pounding hearts and sweaty palms when we negotiate. Do these visceral responses -- also known as physiological arousal -- hurt or help us?
無論你屬于哪一類，我們中的大多數(shù)人在談判時都會感到心跳加快，手心出汗。這些生理反應(yīng)被稱為心理喚醒，對我們來說它們是有害還是有益呢？
Most people (and existing research) consider sweating it to be detrimental; that the key to negotiating is to stay calm and collected. However, that's misleading, according to what I found in my research with Jared R. Curhan, which was recently published in Psychological Science. We found that sweaty palms and pounding hearts aren't inherently a bad thing. The effect really depends on your preexisting attitudes toward negotiation and whether you interpret these physiological responses as a sign of nervousness or excitement.
大多數(shù)人（和現(xiàn)有研究結(jié)論）都認(rèn)為出汗是不利因素，而且談判的關(guān)鍵在于保持平靜和鎮(zhèn)定。然而，我和賈里德•科爾漢在研究中發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種觀點會讓人們受到誤導(dǎo)。最近，我們把這項研究成果發(fā)表在了《心理學(xué)》（Psychological Science）雜志上。我們的結(jié)論是，手心出汗和心跳加快本身并不是什么壞事。它們的影響實際上取決于你對談判的固有態(tài)度以及你把這樣的心理活動解釋為緊張還是興奮。
We conducted two studies to explore the effects of arousal on negotiation outcomes: In the first, we measured individuals' prior attitudes toward negotiation. Several weeks later, these same individuals participated in an experiment in which they negotiated over the price of a used car while walking on a treadmill. Unbeknownst to the participants, we manipulated their heart rate through the speed of the treadmill, which was set by an experimenter.
我們通過兩個實驗來探索心理喚醒對談判結(jié)果的影響。在第一個實驗中，我們首先了解了參與者對談判的固有態(tài)度。幾周后，這些參與者參加了這項實驗，內(nèi)容是在跑步機上就一輛二手車討價還價。我們在參與者不知情的情況下通過調(diào)整跑步機的速度來控制參與者的心跳頻率。
Among those with negative attitudes toward negotiating, participants who walked at a faster pace -- or experienced high arousal -- reported lower satisfaction with their negotiations. They interpreted their heightened heart rate as an indicator of nervousness, which in turn, harmed their negotiating experience. By contrast, those who walked at a slower pace reported higher satisfaction.
在對談判持消極態(tài)度的參與者中，那些在速度較快的跑步機上，或者說心理喚醒較強的人對談判的滿意度較低。他們把心跳加快視為緊張的跡象，而這對他們的談判體驗產(chǎn)生了不好的影響。相反，在速度較慢的跑步機上，這類參與者對談判的滿意度較高。
Yet, we found the reverse among those with positive attitudes toward negotiating. Participants assigned to walk at a faster pace reported greater satisfaction with the negotiation compared to those assigned to walk at a slower pace. Those who enjoy negotiating seem to interpret increased heart rate as an indicator of excitement such that heightened arousal boosts their experience.
在對談判持積極態(tài)度的參與者中，我們的觀察結(jié)果正好相反。對談判滿意度較高的是跑步機速度較快、而不是速度較慢的那些人。樂于進行談判的人似乎把心跳加快視為興奮的信號，較強的心理喚醒因此讓他們有了更好的體驗。
In the second study, we wanted to see if this pattern also extends to economic performance. This time, we let some participants walk continuously while negotiating on their cell phones to increase their heart rate, whereas others stayed seated for their negotiations. Both groups conducted a mock employment negotiation over the phone.
在第二項實驗中，我們想看看在人們在經(jīng)濟領(lǐng)域的表現(xiàn)是不是也存在同樣的規(guī)律。這次，我們讓部分參與者在打手機時不停地走動，以提高他們的心率，其他參與者則坐著打手機。這兩組參與者都通過手機進行了一次模擬面試。
Consistent with our findings from the first study, individuals who dread negotiating felt less satisfied when they experienced heightened arousal (triggered by walking) compared to when they remained seated. They also achieved lower economic outcomes. In contrast, individuals who enjoy negotiating felt more satisfied with the negotiation when walking throughout, and also performed better when aroused compared to when seated.
第二項實驗的結(jié)果和第一項相同，害怕談判的人在心理喚醒較強（原因是走動）時的滿意度低于他們坐著的時候，此時他們在談判中獲得的經(jīng)濟效益也較少。相反，喜歡談判的人在邊走邊談時感到比較滿意，和坐著不動相比，心理喚醒較強時他們在經(jīng)濟方面的表現(xiàn)也較好。
The lesson from these studies is that the conventional wisdom isn't always so wise. If you dread negotiating, you're probably best served trying to stay calm in your negotiations in order to minimize such visceral responses. On the other hand, if you look forward to negotiating, you might want to actively attempt to raise your heart rate beforehand. Although these studies were limited to negotiation, it's worthwhile to consider if the same lessons might apply to other contexts such as public speaking, test performance, or competitive sports. Whether we interpret our physiological arousal as nervousness or excitement might depend on our prior attitudes toward the task at hand. If it's something we dread, then making an effort to maintain our composure might be valuable.
這兩項實驗告訴我們，常識并不總是對的。如果害怕談判，你最好在談判時保持平靜，以盡量減少上述生理反應(yīng)。相反，如果期待談判，你可能需要在談判前主動設(shè)法讓自己的心跳加快。雖然這兩項實驗的范圍僅限于談判，但我們值得考慮一下這些實驗結(jié)論是否適用于其他場合，比如在公開場合發(fā)言，參加考試或者競技性運動項目。我們把自己的心理喚醒解釋為緊張還是興奮可能取決于我們對當(dāng)前任務(wù)的固有態(tài)度。如果它讓我們感到害怕，那么設(shè)法保持鎮(zhèn)定就可能有很大價值。
But if it's a task we enjoy, it might be better to get pumped up!
但是，如果我們喜歡這項任務(wù)，那么比較好的做法就可能是給自己打打氣。
Dr. Ashley D. Brown worked on this research as a Ph.D. student at the MIT Sloan School of Management with Prof. Jared R. Curhan. Brown is now a research associate in the Psychology Department at Stanford University.
本文作者在麻省理工斯隆商學(xué)院攻讀博士學(xué)位時和賈里德•科爾漢教授共同進行了上述研究。作者目前是斯坦福大學(xué)心理系副研究員。
