Friendship, Deception and Punishment in Negotiations

Abstract

Negotiating is all about reaching your goals and trying to be better off than before. The goals serve primarily one’s own interests, but a second objective in most negotiations is to maintain a good relationship with the other. When negotiating with a friend, the impact of the relational factor becomes even more apparent, especially if the resources to be divided ask for distributive bargaining. In situations with a zero sum character, withholding or misrepresenting the background information is, in spite of its doubtful ethical character, a common strategy in order to gain more power. This study addresses the question of how friends cope with the double task of the negotiator, and if they are prepared to deceive the other in order to get a better result. Furthermore, we will study what happens if the deception comes out. Will the deceiving friend be punished more than a stranger would be?