Motivational Underpinnings of Gender Differences In Salary Negotiations

Gender differences in negotiation outcomes are pervasive and perpetuate the gender wage gap. The injunctive norms of the female gender role prescribe communal traits and proscribe agentic ones, thereby placing women at a systematic disadvantage in competitive negotiations. In this first exploratory research, we aim to conceptualize the motivational differences that might be driving the female and male gender role in salary negotiations. Using a gender incongruent prime, male (female) participants imagined being the female (male) version of themselves entering a salary negotiation. We found that the primes shifted subjective gendered attributions. While the male-typed prime did not affect pay entitlement, it eliminated gender differences in fear of social backlash, confidence in one’s competence, and the ability to obtain a high salary by bringing the scores of women closer to those of men. These findings suggest that gender incongruent priming might be a promising method to reduce gender differences in negotiations.