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1. Competing Paradigms For Emotion and Negotiation

   1. The Traditional Paradigm

      1. Emotion is negative emotion (such as anger)

      2. Only very strong emotions matter

      3. Emotion interferes with negotiation

      4. The lawyer (and or mediator) can "cool out" the emotionally\hot client

   2. A Competing Paradigm: Efficient Emotion

      1. Emotion includes positive and negative emotion

      2. Even very mild changes in emotion - like that after watching a five minute funny video - are associated with statistically significant differences in negotiation outcomes

      3. Certain emotions are associated with success in certain negotiations

         1. Certain emotions may be individually efficient because negotiators themselves will do better (get more individual gains)

         2. Certain emotions may be socially efficient as well because they lead to more joint gains (a.k.a., a larger pie)

      4. The lawyer should not simply avoid emotion

      5. The lawyer should promote emotions associated with success with particular kinds of negotiations

   3. Evidence For Efficient Emotion

      1. Non-lawyer studies and "positive" psychology

         1. Business and undergraduate students induced to be in positive moods get more joint gains and sometimes more individual gains

         2. Business and undergraduate students induced to be in negative moods get fewer joint gains and sometimes fewer individual gains as well

      2. Larger constellation of positive psychology studies

         1. Those induced to be in positive moods do better in variety of higher level cognitive tasks

      3. Findings from research with law students - emotion and negotiation success

         1. Positive emotion associated with greater individual success at tasks both with potential for individual gain and joint gain

         2. Negative emotion associated with less individual success

         3. Positive emotion and negative emotion have distinct influences - merely reducing negative emotion not sufficient to optimize probable success!

      4. Findings from research with law students - emotion and law school success generally

      5. Research involved over 100 first year students and over 100 second year students

      6. Preliminary analyses shows certain positive emotional habits-including various kinds of optimism and willingness to reframe events in positive ways-associated with greater success as measured by class rank and gpa

      7. Preliminary analyses of

   4. Efficient Emotion vs. Positive Psychology

      1. Evidence of independence of positive emotions

         1. Existing research often theorizes that distinct emotions-particularly that positive emotion is not merely the absence of negative emotion

         2. But existing research has difficulty showing this because of limitations of method of

      2. What induces positive emotion may vary for different individuals and sets of individuals

         1. Traditional mood inductions don't test what works for different individuals

         2. Glade makes some people happy, but some sneeze!

      3. Positive emotion may often be efficient but not for every negotiation or for every stage of a negotiation or for every type of person

         1. Negative emotion and some negotiation success: negative emotion as signaling

            1. Thompson et al theorize displaying negative emotion may be associated with success at certain negotiations (more negative emotion by Baker might have led Iraq not to invade Kuwait)

         2. Negative emotion and some stages of negotiation

            1. Negative negotiations may inhibit success where there are possible joint gains

            2. Negative emotion may often lead to lower setting of goals and therefore less likelihood of success

            3. But some research - this is very controversial! - suggests positive emotion leads people to simply rely on old patterns rather than creative solutions

            4. And some research suggests positive emotion may lead to greater concessions

         3. A Special Role For Lawyers?

            1. Lawyers and emotion: some generalizations

         4. Lawyers have higher instances of symptoms of various kinds of negative emotions

         5. Sometimes difficult to get at if one asks only summary questions

         6. Lawyers may lack efficient levels of positive emotion

         7. But lawyers may have greater potential for training in efficient emotion

            1. Greater distress may mean greater motivation to learn!

            2. Lawyerly habits may fit some methods of mood management

               1. e.g. both cognitive-behavioral techniques and lawyering involve testing assumptions and weighing evidence

      4. Stages of Efficient Emotion Training

         1. Awareness of importance of emotion

         2. Training in awareness of emotions

         3. Training in approaches to efficient emotions

            1. Option one: Inducing efficient emotions

               1. Awareness of what works fro given individuals

            2. Option two: Attempting to correct for effects

               1. Easier to correct for setting low targets from negative mood than correcting for failures of creativity from lack of positive mood!

            3. Long-term and shorter term approaches

       

      Sources for More Information:

      1. Clark Freshman, Adele Hayes, and Greg Feldman, The Lawyer as Mood Scientist, 2002 J. Disp. Resol 1.

      2. Leigh Thompson, The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator