“Are there any other offers you have?” 

We frequently receive inquiries that we would prefer not to respond to, whether in interviews or during negotiations. A sincere response can damage our reputation, jeopardize our privacy, or reveal confidential company information. The way we reply, though, can have an effect on both our financial situation and our connection with the individual asking. Prior studies looked at three typical approaches to responding to direct, challenging queries. 1) You could respond truthfully. We definitely have a tendency to trust and like people who share information, especially expensive information, but this strategy can be expensive financially because replying “No, I have no other offers” may result in a reduced offer being put on the table. 2) You may say something like, “I would rather not answer that,” to indicate that you do not wish to respond to the question. However, this strategy may be detrimental to relationships (and frequently to the economy) because people tend to detest and distrust those who withhold information even more than those who divulge unfavorable information about themselves. 3) You could lie, but lying is exceedingly risky since we loathe and distrust those who lie to us and frequently retaliate in like. 

Another strategy that might cut back on some of these social and financial consequences piqued our interest. 

In our research, we looked into deflection, which is when someone dodges a straight question by asking one that focuses attention on the other party. Whether someone asks you if you have any additional offers, you could respond, “Are you going to make me an offer?” as an example. We discovered that deflection allows people to avoid divulging expensive information in a way that produces better results than just refusing to answer a question and is less damaging to their reputation than deceit. 

The advantages of avoiding direct inquiries 

More than 2000 participants played the part of art dealers tasked with selling a painting that was a part of a collection in five experimental investigations. Participants were partnered with “art purchasers” who, in reality, were study assistants who followed a pre-written script. We advised sellers that if the buyer had additional artwork from the collection, they could demand a greater price for the picture. As a result, nearly all of our participants queried the buyers about whether they had further items in the collection. We had purchasers reply to this question in various ways during the subsequent price discussion for the artwork, and we evaluated what transpired. 

In our first two studies (N = 1126), we contrasted disclosure (e.g., “I did purchase the other pieces in the collection.”) with deflection (e.g., “How much do you want for this piece?” in response to the seller’s inquiry about whether or not the buyer had other pieces) and refusal to disclose (e.g., “I’m not prepared to discuss my collection right now. Deflecting the topic was very successful, as seen by the 76.9% of sellers who responded to the deflection question (such as, “How does 10,000 sound?”). We discovered that participants appreciated and trusted buyers who openly provided information about their collection the most, but they also paid the most. As opposed to an honest disclosure, neglecting to disclose improved the buyer’s financial situation (lower price), but it hurt how much the sellers loved and trusted the buyer. Deflecting buyers achieved equilibrium. They received lower prices than truthful purchasers, yet they enjoyed greater favorability and trust than buyers who withheld information. 

We evaluated the economic and interpersonal impacts of deflection to deceit in our following two research (N = 480). We employed a related experimental paradigm and used the purchasers’ false response, “I do not have any other pieces in the collection,” to manipulate deception. These research showed that lying helped consumers get better results than deflection, but only in the short run. Before revealing that their buyer already owned the other items in the collection, we asked sellers to rate their counterpart initially based on their level of trust and liking. Participants were then asked to rate their partner again. When participants learned they had been tricked, compared to when they had experienced deflection, their level of like and trust for their buyer considerably decreased. They were also significantly less likely to desire to bargain with their partner again. 

Why does deflection perform so well while answering challenging questions? In the second of our two studies (N = 600), we asked participants to rate how much they believed their counterpart was attempting to (a) conceal information and (b) gather information. We discovered that deflection, as opposed to withholding information or lying, led sellers to believe that their counterpart was trying to learn information rather than conceal it. It appears that deflection, as opposed to withholding information or lying, can increase trust and likeability since we tend to like people who are open-minded and inquiring. 

We discovered that deflection was quite effective in our negotiation contexts. However, we believe that the fact that this was a two-person conversation in our experiments may be significant. When someone asks us a direct question, we are obliged to respond, even if doing so diverts our attention from the original query. But occasionally, somebody else might be listening in on the talk. During job interviews or bigger group talks, this might be accurate. The advantages of deflection may very well be lessened in larger groups, and observers may be more likely to notice deflection than participants were in our tests. 

How to avoid 

It is obvious that deflection can be a valuable tactic during negotiations or job interviews. When faced with a challenging question, it can assist you in avoiding potential financial or social repercussions associated with being truthful, declining to respond, or lying. Deflection, though, is not a skill that many people naturally possess. 

So, here are some tips for successfully avoiding direct inquiries: 

Be prepared for the challenging, straight questions you will certainly receive. Sometimes people ask us questions that we don’t want to, can’t answer, or even should. For instance, during an interview, we might be asked about our age, political affiliation, or marital status. Prepare responses to queries you don’t want to answer by imagining them. 

Create question-refusing strategies. The greatest questions to deflect remain on the original topic of the question (doing so helps to keep the conversation moving) and center on your opponent (people are often keen to talk about themselves). Humorous deflection questions can also be incredibly disarming. For instance, the deflection may be “Do you have any children?” in response to the inquiry, “When do you plan on having children?” which, by the way, is prohibited for employers to ask in the U.S. Another amusing remark is, “At least 9 months apart. Is this company operating under a different standard? A little humor might change the subject of the conversation and indicate that you want the interaction to be pleasant. Get comfortable avoiding inquiries. It can be challenging to come up with deflection questions on the moment. You will be in a good position to reroute a conversation if you prepare various deflection responses and anticipate the questions you’ll likely be asked. Consider practicing a talk with a buddy or colleague before key discussions. Give a coworker a list of questions, for instance, that includes one or two that are challenging that you would prefer not to answer. 

Try deflecting the target question to steer the topic in a new direction without letting your colleague know that you want to employ deflection. 

Prepare for responses to your deflection inquiries. We discover that there is a rather strong conversational norm to respond to a direct query. This implies that you might have to make an effort to refrain from answering a straight question, but it also implies that your conversation partner will probably feel obligated to do so. You should be aware that your counterpart will feel the need to respond to your query if you answer a straight question like “What are your outside options?” with “What’s your initial offer.” Think about how you could continue the conversation by asking or making further comments. 

Get ready to counter any deflection. You should expect that deflection is tough to detect and that you will probably feel pressured to answer deflection inquiries if you are the one eager to obtain important information. Make a list of the main questions you want to ask and mark the ones that are especially crucial as you get ready for your negotiation or meeting. Make notes during the meeting about the responses you get, paying close attention to the answers to your main inquiries. In our research, the majority of participants not only respond to the deflection question, but also never go back to their initial query. 

We receive a lot of straight and challenging queries. Due of their intense compulsion to respond to a direct question, many people give answers that they subsequently regret giving, such as disclosing sensitive information or lying. We may control a conversation and advance our interests by concentrating on how to dodge challenging inquiries. When someone asks you a challenging question in the future, think about coming up with a fresh query.

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