Rejection of Empathy in Negotiation

Authors: Martinovski, Bilyana; Traum, David; Marsella, Stacy

Source: Group Decision and Negotiation, Volume 16, Number 1, January 2007 , pp. 61-76(16)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

Trust is a crucial quality in the development of individuals and societies and empathy plays a key role in the formation of trust. Trust and empathy have growing importance in studies of negotiation. However, empathy can be rejected which complicates its role in negotiation. This paper presents a linguistic analysis of empathy by focusing on rejection of empathy in negotiation. Some of the rejections are due to failed recognition of the rejector's needs and desires whereas others have mainly strategic functions gaining momentum in the negotiation. In both cases, rejection of empathy is a phase in the negotiation not a breakdown.

Keywords: negotiation; empathy; trust; linguistics; social behavior; discourse analysis; conversation analysis

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10726-006-9032-z

Publication date: 2007-01-01