EFFECTS OF SELF‐EFFICACY and GOAL‐ORIENTATION TRAINING ON NEGOTIATION SKILL MAINTENANCE: WHAT ARE THE MECHANISMS?

Abstract

In a replication and extension of Gist, Stevens, and Bavetta (1991), we examined the effects of self‐efficacy and a performance‐ versus a mastery‐oriented post‐training session on trainees' negotiation skill maintenance. Sixty MBA students received salary‐negotiation training and engaged in practice negotiations with a confederate. They then attended either a performance‐ or a mastery‐oriented post‐training session. A second practice negotiation was conducted 7 weeks later. Results indicated that mastery‐oriented trainees engaged in more interim skill‐maintenance activities, planned to exert more effort, and showed more positive affect than did performance‐oriented trainees. In addition, self‐efficacy interacted with the post‐training condition on Time 2 performance: Low self‐efficacy trainees performed more poorly than high self‐efficacy trainees in the performance‐ but not in the mastery‐oriented post‐training condition. Analyses indicated that trainees' cognitive withdrawal mediated this effect. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.