Does AI Coaching Prepare us for Workplace Negotiations?

2025-09-26

AI Summary

This study investigates whether AI coaching can effectively mitigate psychological barriers and enhance preparation in workplace negotiations. Method: Grounded in Brett’s negotiation model, we designed Trucey—a structured-generative hybrid AI coach integrating theoretical scaffolding, adaptive dialogic practice, and psychological support mechanisms—and evaluated it via a between-subjects experiment (N=267) and in-depth interviews (N=15), comparing it against ChatGPT and a traditional handbook. Results: Trucey significantly reduced negotiation anxiety, demonstrating AI’s potential for emotion regulation; however, the traditional handbook outperformed both AI conditions in usability, psychological empowerment, and knowledge integration—users consistently reported fragmented AI guidance requiring excessive cognitive effort. This work introduces the “theory-anchored + generative-scaffolded” AI coaching paradigm, revealing that effective AI support for high-stakes interpersonal tasks must balance structural clarity with psychological accessibility—thereby establishing empirical boundaries and design principles for AI-augmented soft skills training.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Human-AI Collaboration / Human-AI Teaming
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Simulating Human Behavior
• Multiagent Systems: Agent/AI Theories and Architectures

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Trust and reliance of crowd workers and data experts on GenAI
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Agentic search
• Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactions

Abstract

Workplace negotiations are undermined by psychological barriers, which can even derail well-prepared tactics. AI offers personalized and always -- available negotiation coaching, yet its effectiveness for negotiation preparedness remains unclear. We built Trucey, a prototype AI coach grounded in Brett's negotiation model. We conducted a between-subjects experiment (N=267), comparing Trucey, ChatGPT, and a traditional negotiation Handbook, followed by in-depth interviews (N=15). While Trucey showed the strongest reductions in fear relative to both comparison conditions, the Handbook outperformed both AIs in usability and psychological empowerment. Interviews revealed that the Handbook's comprehensive, reviewable content was crucial for participants' confidence and preparedness. In contrast, although participants valued AI's rehearsal capability, its guidance often felt verbose and fragmented -- delivered in bits and pieces that required additional effort -- leaving them uncertain or overwhelmed. These findings challenge assumptions of AI superiority and motivate hybrid designs that integrate structured, theory-driven content with targeted rehearsal, clear boundaries, and adaptive scaffolds to address psychological barriers and support negotiation preparedness.

Problem

• AI coaching effectiveness for workplace negotiations remains unclear
• Psychological barriers undermine workplace negotiation performance
• Hybrid designs needed to integrate structured content with AI rehearsal

Innovation

• AI coach prototype based on negotiation model
• Hybrid design integrating structured content with rehearsal
• Addressing psychological barriers through adaptive scaffolds