The Mindful Negotiator: Strategic Emotion Management and Wellbeing

Abstract:     
This paper adopts a positive organizational scholarship lens to examine negotiation theory. Whether focusing on cognitive or social processes, the basic assumptions of most negotiation research are drawn from social exchange theory (Blau, 1964; Emerson, 1976; Homans, 1958; Thibaut & Kelley, 1959), which conceptualizes relationships as economic transactions of material or non-material goods. Building on humanistic psychology (Rogers, 1959, 1961), we suggest that engaging in mindful and strategic emotion management through a process of self-narration (Kopelman, Chen, & Shoshana, 2009) enables negotiators to develop positive regard for the self and others. Our framework suggests that negotiating mindfully will improve instrumental outcomes and wellbeing.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 29

working papers series