Emotional Dynamics in Conflict and Negotiation: Individual, Dyadic, and Group Processes

Posted: 13 Feb 2018

See all articles by Gerben A. van Kleef

Gerben A. van Kleef

University of Amsterdam - Department of Psychology

Stéphane Côté

University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management

Date Written: January 2018

Abstract

Conflict is an emotional enterprise. We provide an integrative synthesis of theory and research on emotional dynamics in conflict and negotiation at three levels of analysis: the individual, the dyad, and the group. At the individual level, experienced moods and emotions shape negotiators' cognition and behavior. At the dyadic level, emotional expressions influence counterparts' cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses. At the group level, patterns of emotional experience and/or expression can instigate cooperation, coordination, and conformity, or competition, conflict, and deviance. Intrapersonal (individual-level) effects of diffuse moods can be explained by affect priming and affect-as-information models, whereas effects of discrete emotions are better explained by the appraisal-tendency framework. Interpersonal (dyadic- and group-level) effects of emotions are mediated by affective (e.g., emotional contagion) and inferential (e.g., reverse appraisal) responses, whose relative predictive power can be understood through the lens of emotions as social information (EASI) theory. We offer a critical assessment of the current literature, discuss practical implications for negotiation and conflict management, and sketch an agenda for future research.

Suggested Citation

van Kleef, Gerben A. and Cote, Stephane, Emotional Dynamics in Conflict and Negotiation: Individual, Dyadic, and Group Processes (January 2018). Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, Vol. 5, Issue 1, pp. 437-464, 2018, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3121639 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032117-104714

Gerben A. Van Kleef (Contact Author)

University of Amsterdam - Department of Psychology ( email )

Roetersstraat 15
Amsterdam, 1018 WB
Netherlands
+31 20 525 6633 (Phone)
+31 20 639 0531 (Fax)

Stephane Cote

University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management ( email )

105 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6 M5S1S4
Canada

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
417
PlumX Metrics