In this section, the key findings of the current study are summarised according to the areas of research interest: whether frames were used differentially between conditions; whether negotiators shifted in their use of frames relative to each other across time; whether negotiators shifted together in their use of frames across time and whether these shifts were linked to the outcomes negotiators obtained.
First, negotiators in the competitive condition used significantly more competitive aspiration frames than negotiators in the cooperative condition. A non-significant trend was found in which negotiators in the competitive condition used power/rights-based justification frames more than negotiators in the cooperative condition.
Second, the main finding was that non-inclusive process frames were used more frequently in the mixed condition than in the same motivation conditions. Third, frame shifts in the competitive condition did not vary significantly across time. However, within the cooperative condition, a trend for the use of competitively-oriented frames to converge over time was observed. Analysis of the pattern of convergence at the univariate level showed that use of the non-inclusive process frame converged over time.
In mixed dyads, differences in frame use between negotiators were found to be maintained over time; that is, neither patterns of convergence nor divergence in frame use were found in these dyads. However, joint frame use differed significantly across stages of the negotiation for five of the eight frames. The cooperative outcome frame and the inclusive process frame were found to increase in joint use over time, in contrast, the competitive outcome frame, cooperative aspiration frame and the power/rights-based justification frame decreased in joint use across time. Of those frames that were found to change in use over time, a decrease in the joint use of competitive outcome frames was found to be a predictor of more integrative outcomes.
Tests of the pattern of frame shift equivalence within the same motivation conditions revealed several effects. In the cooperative condition, there was a trend for the joint use of the competitively-oriented frames decreasing over time. Of the three competitively-oriented frames tested in this set, joint use of the non-inclusive process frame decreased significantly over time. In the competitive condition, joint use of the cooperative outcome frame increased significantly over time and joint use of the substantive issues frame decreased significantly over time. Analysis of the relationship between frame shifts and outcomes in the competitive condition revealed a trend for a decrease in the joint use of the substantive issues frame to be associated with more distributive outcomes.