Power and Negotiation: Review of Current Evidence and Future Directions

This review synthesizes the impact of power on individual and joint negotiation performance. Although power generally has positive effects on negotiators’ individual performance (value claiming), recent work suggests that more power is not always beneficial. Taking a dyadic perspective, the authors also find mixed evidence for how power affects joint performance (value creation); some studies show that equal-power dyads create more value than unequal-power dyads, but others find the opposite. The authors identify the source of power, power distribution, and competitiveness as critical moderators of this relationship. Finally, the authors suggest that future research should move beyond studying alternatives in dyadic deal-making, identify strategies to overcome a lack of power, increase empirical realism, and take a more dynamic view of power in negotiations.