Participants entered the laboratory and were seated in separate
cubicles with a computer. Participants were told that they were
going to bargain over 100 chips with another participant, which in
reality was a computer-simulated opponent. To minimize suspicion
towards this procedure, we always made sure multiple participants
were present in the laboratory at any given time. They received a detailed
description of the bargaining situation and we carefully explained
our power manipulation using the lambda factor. After
explaining the bargaining situation, participants learned that the
chips were worth € 0.08 to them and € 0.04 to their opponent (€ 1
was approximately US$ 1.50 at the time of the experiment). Moreover,
wetold participants that the allocator was not aware of the different
exchange values. Prior to the allocator deciding on the offer,
participants sent information about the exchange values to the allocator.
Participants could send a message stating the chips were
worth € 0.08 to them (no deception) or a message stating the chips
were worth € 0.04 to them (deception). After choosing a message
we checked whether participants had understood our manipulation
of power.Weasked participants whether a rejection would have larger
impact on their own outcomes or those of the allocator. In addition,
we asked participants how powerful they were during
bargaining, how powerful their opponent was (reverse-coded) and
who was more powerful. Responses were measured on 5-point rating
scales and were averaged into a single score for perceived power
(Cronbach’s alpha = .85). Low scores indicated that participants perceived
their position to be powerless while high scores indicated
that participants perceived their position to be powerful. Finally,
participants were thoroughly debriefed and received € 3 for their
participation. All participants agreed to this procedure.