Summary
Contents
Subject index
This first edition of Communication and Negotiation, edited by Linda L. Putnam and Michael E. Roloff, provides a much needed discussion of the links between communication and negotiation … In fact, this text would be an excellent resource guide for psychologists, social psychologists, psychotherapists, and marriage counselors, as well as all other parties interested in managing conflict through negotiation.” –Contemporary Psychology “References to contributors … for whom applied issues in industrial relations have been to the fore–are fairly frequent. This is testimony to the sheer thoroughness of the organization of the book, and to the conscientious approach of the authors commissioned to write the relevant separate chapters…. This book is a useful pointer to the knowledge we have to hand.” –The Occupational Psychologist “This publication is a profound review of the state of the art of that speciality of communication research which deals with human negotiation or bargaining activities…. [The book] provides an interesting and well-structured entry to the understanding of the variety of factors involved in the communication processes that constitute a two-party negotiation. To LIS researchers, in particular in the fields of information management and information (seeking) behavior, this publication may offer important insights and methodologies as well as novel ideas with respect to investigating particular phenomena occurring prior to, during, or preceding the use of information (retrieval) systems…. Communication and Negotiation is a useful companion to researchers who wish to dig deeper into empirical and theoretical investigations of the aspects of the negotiation processes…. Communication and Negotiation brings forth many ideas relevant to LIS research, and within its firm communication approach the publication serves well as a profound review of research in a historical context of the negotiation and bargaining phenomena.” –The Library Quarterly “Communication and Negotiation is volume 20 in Sage's Annual Reviews of Communication Research series, and offers the professional presentation and excellent quality one would expect from a work that is part of such a long tradition…. This volume offers quite a valuable summary of the state of the art in communication theory as it applies to negotiation. Researchers in other primary disciplines need to be aware of this work as it overlaps heavily with other disciplinary viewpoints….” –The Alternative Newsletter In recent years, a number of universities have established formal centers for studying conflict and dispute resolution. Scholars, too, have created new journals to focus exclusively on the study of conflict processes. Communication and Negotiation provides a synthesis of the research in this area by consolidating alternative perspectives on communication and negotiation, reviewing the work of noted communication scholars, and suggesting directions for future research. Contributors explore three major aspects of negotiation communication: a) strategies, tactics, and negotiation processes; b) interpretive processes and language analysis; and c) negotiation situation and context. In addition, these studies examine bargaining planning, frames and reframing, and relational communication with opponents, constituents, and audiences. A showcase for communication scholars as well as an extremely useful reference book for negotiation theorists, Communication and Negotiation is one of those rare books with wide interdisciplinary appeal. Scholars and students in political science, psychology, economics, management and organizational behavior, sociology, law, and industrial relations as well as the communications fields will especially profit from this remarkable new collection.
Face and Facework in Negotiation
Face and Facework in Negotiation
IMAGE MAY NOT BE everything, but for negotiators it is a major concern. Although they haggle over substantive issues, negotiators also claim desired images and identities during interaction and worry about “losing face” and “saving face.” During the Persian Gulf crisis, these concerns about face may have been partially responsible for Saddam Hussein's unwillingness to withdraw unconditionally from Kuwait, as well as for the Bush administration's repeated insistence that the United States was not “negotiating” with Iraq.1 As this example suggests, parties may choose to forgo negotiations when their identities are called in question. When negotiations get underway, concerns about face influence how the parties structure their opening moves, how they respond to their opponent's tactics, and whether they make concessions in order to reach agreement. Many popular texts emphasize the importance of managing concerns about face during conflict and negotiation (e.g., Bach & Wyden, 1968; Fisher & Ury. 1981, Graham & Sano, 1984; Zimmerman, 1985).
This chapter reviews research that explores relationships among concerns about face, negotiation interaction, and outcomes. Within the last 10 years two distinct literatures have emerged concerning the role of face in negotiation. Scholars who work within a social-psychological tradition employ experimental studies to investigate how communication (i.e., bargaining tactics) mediates the relationship between face-saving concerns and destructive negotiation outcomes. Researchers who work within a discourse-interactional tradition employ quasi-experimental or case studies to examine how communication (i.e., interaction patterns) serves as a vehicle by which participants constantly hammer out a “working consensus” regarding each party's identity. To date, little “cross-fertilization” has occurred between these traditions. After discussing the terms face and facework, this chapter reviews assumptions and representative investigations from each tradition, and then explores how both traditions can expand our understanding of the role of face in negotiation.
Definitions and Overview
Face in Negotiation
Although the concept of face dates back at least 2,000 years to Chinese culture (Hu, 1944), most contemporary discussions emanate from Goffman's (1967) article “On Face-Work.” Goffman, by describing face as the positive value that individuals attach to their situated identities, highlights two important qualities (Tracy, 1990). First, face is a social commodity. Negotiators worry about losing face when their actions or events discredit a desired identity in the eyes of significant others, such as their opponent or own constituents. Goffman (1967) writes that although an individual's face “may be his [sic] most personal possession … it is only on loan to him from society” (p. 10) and that a “person's face is not lodged in or on his body, but … is diffusely located in the flow of events in the encounter” (p. 7).
Second, face is situated, in the sense that different identities arise from the context. Negotiators hope to be seen as “firm” or “tough” advocates who will resist unjust intimidation (B. Brown, 1968; Carnevale, Pruitt, & Britton, 1979). Tjosvold (1983) even equates “social face” and “the image of strength persons want to project in conflict” (p. 50). Although his definition emphasizes an important identity for negotiators, it is too restrictive. Negotiators also can loose face if they do not appear trustworthy, fair, or competent (Pruitt & Smith, 1981; Wilson, Meischke, & Kim, 1990).
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