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This paper presents a model of cross-cultural negotiations which describes how the affect negotiators experience during negotiations influences the character of the negotiation process and its outcomes. Three categories of determinants of negotiator affect are proposed: Individual differences, cross-cultural differences, and contextual factors. The ways in which negotiator affect influences information processing during
negotiations are then described. It is suggested that the influence of affect, through substantive information processing, may lead to either positive or negative spirals in negotiations, influencing the ability of negotiators to reach an integrative solution. Finally, the ways in which negotiators can break out of destructive negative spirals by engaging in motivated rather than substantive information processing are discussed.
Increasing globalization has resulted in an increased volume of face-to-face negotiations between members of different cultures. International joint ventures, licensing agreements, seller-buyer relationships, distribution agreements, production agreements, mergers, and acquisitions are just a sampling of the arenas in which managers are required to negotiate with people from other countries and cultures. Moreover, expatriate managers are often required to negotiate with host country residents on a variety of issues, such as securing resources, arranging for transportation of goods, and securing and maintaining an effective workforce. By some estimates, global managers spend more than half of their time negotiating, and negotiation is often ranked as one of the most important skills for global managers to possess (Fayweather & Kapoor, 1972, 1976; Perlmutter, 1984, cited in Adler, 1997).
By definition, the two or more parties involved in a negotiation have differing interests and may come into conflict over key points, whether it be a fair price in buyer-seller relationships, a fair licensing agreement, or an equitable workplace arrangement. The conflict and bargaining that takes place during negotiations has an inherent affective component (Pondy, 1967), and affective or emotional reactions such as distress or anger are often experienced during the negotiation process. Indeed, the process of attitudinal structuring (Walton & McKersie, 1965) has an important affective component. Anecdotal evidence, case studies, and academic writings point to an interesting phenomena that can occur in crosscultural negotiations-the emergence of negative spirals that cause increasingly negative affective or emotional reactions in negotiators which escalate ill-will, hurt the negotiation process, and often bring it to an end (Adler,...