Critical Mixed Methods Research Synthesis (CMMRS): A novel approach to revisit gender and negotiation performance in the literature

The question if gender influences negotiation performance has seemingly been answered for long: existing meta-analyses unanimously conclude that men negotiate better outcomes than women. The problem is that there is a vast number of studies that show conflicting results, too, and the controversy does not seem to cease over the years. The literature is re-analysed with a novel mix of two distinct approaches, wherein the Mixed Method Research Synthesis (MMRS) is combined with elements of Critical Interpretive Synthesis, forming together the Critical Mixed Method Research Synthesis (CMMRS). First findings for articles from the 2000s and 2010s are that the majority of female versus male comparisons result in “no difference”: gender does not seem to cause negotiation performance disparities. Owing to a bias in storytelling, to unwarranted p-value stretching and to a focus on mere quantitative accounts that ignore a dual performance approach, the “myth” of the superior male negotiator seems to be kept vivid until today in a snow ball effect.