Understanding gender differences and the role of apologies in negotiation

“The art of a sincere and heartfelt apology is one of the greatest skills you will ever learn.” Anecdotal evidence suggests that women have acquired this skill through decades of sex-role socialization. While apologies have been a new addition to a negotiator’s vocabulary, women in particular, have always been stereotyped to be the more apologetic sex. The literature on benefits of apologizing and existence of skewed gender differences inspire us to facilitate a deeper understanding. In this research, two experimental studies are designed to understand the presence of gender differences, to gauge the efficacy of apologizing and evaluate the perceived impact of apologies in a negotiation. Further, by providing a theoretical framework drawing from the fields of sociology, psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics, the hypothesis are substantiated. Overall, the study aims to explore the influence of powerful apology cues in same-sex and mixed-sex pairs.