Emotion in Conflict and Negotiation: Introducing the Emotions as Social Information (EASI) Model

Abstract

Introduction Conflict is omnipresent in organizational life. One of the most common and constructive ways of resolving conflict is through negotiation, which can be defined as a discussion between two or more parties aimed at resolving a perceived divergence of interests (Pruitt & Carnevale, 1993). For example, members of a work team may negotiate the division of labor, employees may negotiate with their bosses about a salary raise, and CEOs may negotiate the terms of a merger. As we all know from personal experience, conflict and negotiation often bring about intense emotions, which may in turn strongly influence negotiation behavior and conflict development (Barry et al., 2004). But how do emotions influence conflict behavior? In this chapter I review research that is pertinent to this question, and I introduce a model that accounts for the interpersonal effects of emotions in conflict and negotiation: the emotions as social information (EASI) model.1 When thinking about the role of emotions in conflict and negotiation, it is helpful to distinguish between intraand interpersonal effects (see Morris & Keltner, 2000; Van Kleef et al., 2004a). Intrapersonal effects refer to the influence of an individual’s emotions on his or her own behavior. Among other things, positive moods and emotions have been shown to increase concession making (Baron, 1990), stimulate creative problem solving (Isen et al., 1987), increase joint gains (Carnevale & Isen, 1986; Allred et al., 1997), increase preferences for cooperation (Baron et al., 1990), reduce the use of contentious tactics (Carnevale & Isen, 1986), and increase the use of cooperative negotiation strategies (Forgas, 1998). By contrast, negative affect has been shown to decrease initial offers (Baron et al., 1990), decrease joint gains (Allred et al., 1997), promote the rejection of ultimatum offers (Pillutla & Murnighan, 1996), increase the use of competitive strategies (Forgas, 1998), and decrease the desire for future interaction (Allred et al., 1997). Because this research has recently been thoroughly reviewed elsewhere (see Barry et al., 2004), I will not go into detail here. Let it suffice to say that a substantial number of studies have now consistently demonstrated that individuals experiencing positive affect tend to be more cooperative and conciliatory, whereas individuals who are in a negative affective state tend to be more competitive and reluctant to make concessions. The purpose of this chapter is to review and integrate research on the interpersonal effects of emotions, that is, the way one party’s emotions may affect other people’s behavior. After two decades of an almost exclusive focus on intrapersonal effects, recent years have witnessed a rapidly growing attention to this topic. Scholars working in this new area of research have asked themselves questions such as: how do negotiators respond to their counterpart’s emotions? Can emotions be strategically used to extract concessions? If so, which emotions would be most effective in eliciting compliance? And, how do negotiators react to their opponent’s expressions of anger? Will they be intimidated and give in, or