In this episode, we talk with David A. Hunsaker, Hong Zhang, and Alice J. Lee, authors of the paper “Beyond Propensity: Thresholds, Costs, and Interventions in Negotiation Avoidance,” about why people often choose not to negotiate, even when negotiation could benefit them.

The conversation begins with the origins of their research project on negotiation avoidance, a phenomenon that is both common and surprisingly underexamined. Starting from a relatable observation that even negotiation scholars sometimes avoid negotiating, we ask why people decide not to negotiate at all, before they ever reach the bargaining table.

We discuss the paper’s finding that negotiation avoidance is widespread: more than 95% of participants reported avoiding negotiation in at least some situations, and peop ...