“Redshift / Blueshift Effect” of Perceptions and Reactions in Negotiations. A New Method of Behaviour Analysis Applied on Native vs. Non-Native Languages Negotiating Comparison

Abstract

Simulated negotiations in native language/Romanian and foreign language/English, by written messages with progressive degrees of aggressivity, revealed a general tendency of behavior. The effect named “Redshift/Blueshift effect of language use” occurs when the language of negotiation influence the aggressivity perceived in the negotiation: the perceptions and reactions in the foreign language are less intense and has as consequences a higher perception of satisfaction and less aggressive reactions (so “shifted to blue” in relation to native language) than the perceived in the native language of the negotiator (that is “shifted to red” in relation to foreign language). A possible explanation was proposed, connected with the Foreign-Language Effect, based on emotional filtering of the foreign language, that attenuate the emotional perceptions of the native speaker who process messages in a foreign language. The “redshift/blueshift effect” was highlighted by analysis of the negotiation simulations by an original method that complete the quantitative analysis of deciles and tendency indicators with a visual qualitative analysis of colored diagrams of deciles based on the classic Excel tool, named “Redshift/Blueshift analysis of distribution deciles”, as a paraphrase on the effect from astrophysics and as a connection with the natural tendency to associate the red color to aggressiveness and blue color to agreeableness.

Keywords

• redshift / blueshift effect
• behavior analysis
• foreign-language effect
• foreign language negotiation
• negotiation in english