Negotiation in Social Conflict

This text presents a research-based analysis of negotiation. It examines the nature of negotiator strategies and tactics and their impact on the outcomes of negotiation. It also looks at the psychological states, the motives and perceptions, that determine negotiator behaviours and the antecedents of these states. Among the antecedents examined are the negotiator's role in his or her organization, conflict style, the other party's behaviour, the way the issues are framed, and various aspects of the relationship between the parties. Negotiation is viewed as one of several procedures available for dealing with social conflict, other examples being mediation, arbitration and independent action by the disputants. One of these alternative procedures, mediation, is discussed in depth, because of its close relationship to negotiation. There is also a chapter on choices among procedures, which helps understand how people enter and leave negotiation.