Are Negotiation Simulations Culturally Neutral? An AI-Assisted Examination of Pedagogical Materials Across Languages

Abstract: This research examines 1) whether negotiation role-play exercises, primarily developed in the US, embed specific cultural assumptions that are exported globally through translation, and 2) to what extent generative AI can detect these cultural differences in pedagogical materials and adapt them to new cultural contexts. We operationalize three of Hofstede's cultural dimensions (individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance) into codebooks designed for AI-assisted qualitative analysis, distinguishing structural pedagogical requirements from culturally-bound framing choices. A pilot study analyzing four negotiation exercises in English and Spanish demonstrates the feasibility of this approach. The full study will expand the corpus and validate findings through cross-model comparison and human coding. This interdisciplinary study contributes to negotiation research and pedagogy while advancing AI-assisted qualitative methodology.

Keywords: Negotiation pedagogy; Negotiation simulations; Cultural framing; AI-assisted qualitative coding