Exploring the Cognitive-Emotional Fugue in Electronic Negotiations

Abstract

A substantial body of literature in CMC and eNS research suggests that communication via textual electronic media is devoid of emotional content as many non- and para-verbal indicators expressing emotions are missing. In order to support these theoretical positions, up to date, studies have mainly focused on the direct expression of emotions. To complement this research, we analyze transcripts from electronic negotiation experiments conducted at three universities in December 2006. By using an exploratory research methodology, i.e., content analysis and subsequent multidimensional scaling (MDS), we analyze the emotional connotation of factual statements (content layer). Thereby we take three different perspectives, (1) on a macro resolution level we assess negotiations in order to gain insight into the dynamics of emotional communication over time, (2) on a meso resolution level, single messages (speech acts) of transcripts are the units of analysis and (3) on a micro resolution level, we analyze single utterances within messages. Our results demonstrate that emotions, although not necessarily expressed explicitly, are nevertheless conveyed by the wording and phrasing of utterances. We show that factual statements in negotiations convey an emotional layer, and the same factual statements can be differentiated along their emotional connotation depending on the lexical and syntactical choices of the communicators. Furthermore, there is indication that emotions seem to evolve differently in successful and failed negotiations.