It has long been said that men tend to be assertive and competitive in negotiations, while women tend to be more passive and cooperative.
A recent study discussed in the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (PON) daily blog post debunks this stereotyping. In “Gender and Negotiations: New Research Findings” (July 23, 2025), Katie Shonk discusses a study that shows how sexual orientation influences our negotiation style.
A 2023 study on gender and negotiation revealed that its underlying assumption was that the negotiators were heterosexual. “Yet, at least nine million U.S. adults publicly identify as homosexual….” So, is this assumption wrong at least part of the time? (Id. at 2.)
The authors of this 2023 study, Sreedhari D. Desai of the University of North Carolina and Brian C. Gunia of Johns Hopkins University, looked at a range of studies and found that people stereotype the negotiating behavior of those they presume to be gay based on explicit or implicit cues. (Id. at 4.) One example would be belonging to a gay or lesbian organization. The researchers found that in negotiating with gay or lesbian individuals,
“…participants expected gay women to be more dominant negotiators than straight women and gay men; consequently, the participants made better offers to gay women than to straight women and gay men. Participants also expected gay men to be more passive negotiators than straight men and consequently made worse offers to gay men. The study results suggest that gay men may face a similar negotiation disadvantage as straight women, and that lesbian women may accrue a bargaining advantage—at least if their sexual orientation is known” (Id. at 2.)
This study shows that, unfortunately, stereotyping is alive and well. The term “stereotype”
… is a generalized belief about a particular category of people.[2] It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example, an expectation about the group’s personality, preferences, appearance or ability. Stereotypes make information processing easier by allowing the perceiver to rely on previously stored knowledge in place of incoming information. (Wikipedia)
The term was first used in 1798 by Firmin Didot, a printer,”… to describe a printing plate that duplicated any typography.” (Id.) In 1922, the term was first used outside of printing by Walter Lippmann to denote the social psychological meaning we ascribe to it today. (Id.) And that meaning has stuck with us today.
So, the next time you negotiate anything, are you doing so with the implicit assumption about that person’s sexual orientation? If so, catch yourself and try not to let that assumption govern your demands, offers, and concessions.
… Just something to think about
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