Negotiation psychology: how real people decide at the table
Behavioural economics at the table: fairness, risk, framing, anchors and decoys, and how to use and resist them in a real haggle.
About this course
People at the negotiating table are not calculators. They care about fairness, fear losses more than they value gains, overvalue what they already own and latch onto the first number they hear. The weaker your position, the more these effects matter.
This course walks through the research on each one, from the ultimatum game to the decoy effect, and turns it into practical moves: how to frame an ask, where to set an anchor you can defend, how to build a menu, and how to close without leaving the other side feeling beaten.
Who it's for: Anyone who negotiates and wants to understand, use and resist the behavioural effects that move real deals.
What you'll be able to do
- Recognise fairness, risk attitude, endowment, framing, anchoring and decoys in your own reactions and the other side's
- Reframe an ask as a loss to avoid, and choose an opening anchor you can defend
- Build a menu with a decoy that makes your preferred option the obvious choice
- Pick the right tactic for each stage of a negotiation, and close without leaving the other side feeling beaten
Syllabus: 9 lessons
How real people decide
Module 1Fast and slow thinking at the table
Game theory assumes every player is perfectly rational. Behavioural economics studies where real people predictably depart from that: how psychological, social and emotional factors shape…
Fair and square: the ultimatum game
Remember the pirates' treasure in Course 1? Pure logic said the junior pirates would accept a single coin. Would real people? The ultimatum game tests exactly that.
Feeling lucky? Risk attitude
If you'd take the sure £5,000, and even a bit less, you're risk-averse. If you'd toss the coin even against a guaranteed amount above £5,000, you're risk-seeking.
Mine is worth more: endowment and status quo
Give half a room a mug. Ask the owners the lowest price they'd sell it for, and ask everyone else the most they'd pay. Kahneman, Knetsch and Thaler (1990) ran exactly this.
Steering the choice
Module 2Same facts, different choice: framing
An outbreak threatens 600 people. You must choose a response. Programme A saves 200 people for certain. Programme B has a 1/3 chance of saving all 600 and a 2/3 chance of saving nobody.
Who speaks first: anchoring
Tversky and Kahneman (1974) spun a wheel of fortune in front of people. It was rigged to stop at either 10 or 65.
The option nobody picks: decoys and menus
Dan Ariely (2008) showed students a weekly magazine's subscription menu: digital only at $59, or print plus digital at $125. Most chose digital: 68% against 32%.
At the table
Module 3The tactics toolkit
There are hundreds of negotiation tactics. They fall into four families, roughly in the order you'd use them. 1. Foster a co-operative discussion, early on. 2. Steer emotions, throughout.
Anatomy of a haggle
An original scene, written for Gambit. Maya, 19, has come to settle her late father's affairs with Hollis, who runs a used-equipment yard.
Final assessment and certificate
Ten questions on fresh scenarios. Score 7 or more and your certificate is issued straight away.
Questions
How long does the course take?
About 2 hours: 9 lessons totalling 110 minutes, plus a 10-minute final assessment. It's self-paced, so you can stop after any lesson and pick up where you left off.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes. Pass the 10-question final assessment (7 out of 10) and you get a certificate of completion with your name and a verification ID. You can retake the assessment as often as you like.
How much does it cost?
£9.89, a one-off payment with lifetime access. Signing up is free, and the first lesson, "Fast and slow thinking at the table", is free to play before you buy.
Do I need to know any maths?
No. Everything is explained in plain English with small, worked numbers. If you can compare two prices, you can do this course.
How is it taught?
Every lesson is interactive: you play a game, make a choice or move a slider first, then the idea behind it is explained. There are no videos to sit through.