Patterns of feelings in face‐to‐face negotiation: a Sino‐Dutch pilot study

Abstract

We conducted a pilot study to compare the emotions experienced by Dutch and Chinese students during a face‐to‐face negotiation role play. Emotions play an important role in negotiations because they influence the behaviour and judgments of negotiators. The Data Printer case developed by Greenhalgh was used to examine the patterns of feelings that emerge during negotiations. One hundred and four participants (62 Chinese and 42 Dutch post graduate students) role‐played two different characters who were confronted with a payment dispute regarding the servicing of a defective printer. The results of the MANOVA and of the Factorial Analysis demonstrates that culture as a carrier of social values and norms did influence the emotional reactions of the people socialised in different cultural contexts. The paper concludes that in order to facilitate conflict resolution and interpersonal communication amongst protagonists in mono as well as in inter‐cultural negotiation context individuals should learn to manage their emotions constructively.