– 33 --
Nonverbal Communication in Negotiation
Jeff Thompson, Noam Ebner & Jeff Giddings
Editors’ Note: The authors first review the research indicating that what most negotiating advice focuses on—what should be said or written, and how, and when—amounts to about 7% of communication. The other 93% is nonverbal....and is mostly ignored by proponents of better negotiation. They then set out to remedy this situation by analyzing different modes of nonverbal communication, and offering a matrix of ways to understand it, and to employ it more consciously and more effectively.
Introduction
A sharp knock on the door interrupts your thoughts. You rise from your desk, open the door, and greet Amy with a smile. She extends a handshake, and you lead her in to the office. You see her eyes taking in the view, noting the freshly-arranged flowers in the corner, and focusing on your desk. Her head moves inquisitively between your desk and the small meeting table you have in the corner, and you offer her a seat at the desk. You sit down opposite her, pouring her a glass of water from a jug. As you do, she opens her leather portfolio and extracts her documents, arranging them in three neat piles across her side of the desk. She lays a notepad and a pen on top of them, and suggests you get started. You nod, and gesture for her to go ahead. She discusses the deal your two companies are considering, and outlines the remaining points requiring conclusion; that is the point of your meeting today. You nod as she speaks, particularly as she reaches the third item—the deal-breaker, as far as you’re concerned. Having finished describing the agenda, she pauses, awaiting your input.
You play it cool, suggesting you discuss the items in order, one by one. You lean forward, and explain your company’s needs with regards to the first issue. Your voice is clear and steady, and you can tell she is following along closely and attentively. She asks you a question, and you have to admit you don’t know the answer to it. You resume discussing your stance, only your voice is now a little softer. She writes something on a pad, and as she continues to listen to you, she spins the pen around on her pad. She laughs in agreement with something you said, and nods as she says her company could probably go along with what you offered. You sit back in your seat, satisfied that things are working out well, and then she looks you in the eye and tells you that there is no way that her company is going to give in on the third point. Unprepared for this, you clear your throat, and start to respond—but her voice overrides yours, explaining how her company sees that point. You wonder if she is bluffing, knowing how important this issue is to you and holding out for more in return—but something gives you the sense she is telling the truth. You know that the whole deal hinges on how the next few minutes go, and wonder what might make the difference here. You lean forward, and...
A lot has happened, in the few minutes that have passed. Information about the deal and each company’s positions and interests has been shared. A future relationship has materialized—and now seems to hang in the balance.
This is only the tip of the iceberg, however, of the information that has been communicated. In fact, so much information was communicated between you and Amy that only a small portion of it made its way into your consciousness for processing and analysis. However, your decision-making process, your behavior, and your internal dialog were affected by a much larger portion of this information. What is all that information—and how do we capture and decode it?
In this chapter, we will attempt to pull back the veil of ambiguity that surrounds this information—the nonverbal content of communication—by spotlighting its different components and identifying the cues providing clues to its interpretation. We also aim to clear up a secondary cause of confusion with regard to processing this information, through...
----
For full contents please purchase The Negotiator’s Desk Reference.
----
References
Ackerman, J. M., C. C. Nocera and J. A. Bargh. 2010. Incidental Haptic Sensations Influence Social Judgments and Decisions. Science 328: 1712-1715.
Alexander, N., J. Howieson and K. Fox. 2015. Negotiation: Strategy, Styles, Skills, 3rd edn. Chatswood, New South Wales: LexisNexis Butterworths.
Akechi, H., A. Senju, H. Uibo, Y. Kikuchi, T. Hasegawa and J. K. Hietanen. 2013. Attention to Eye Contact in the West and East: Automatic Responses and Evaluate Ratings. PLoS ONE, 8(3). http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0059312.
Ambady, N., M. A. Krabbenhoft and D. Hogan. 2006. The 30-Sec Sale: Using Thin-Slice
Judgments to Evaluate Sales Effectiveness. Journal of Consumer Psychology 16(1): 4-13.
Ambady, N. and R. Rosenthal. 1998. Nonverbal Communication. In Encyclopedia of Mental Health, 2. Maryland Heights, MO: Academic Press.
Andersen, P. A. and L. K. Guerrero. 1997. The Handbook of Communication and Emotion: Research, Theory, Application, and Contexts. Waltham, MA: Academic Press.
Andersen, P. A. 2008. Nonverbal Communication: Forms and Functions. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
Babad, E., F. Bernieri and F. Rosenthal. 1989. Nonverbal Communication and Leakage in the Behavior of Biased and Unbiased Teachers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 56: 89-94.
Balachandra, L. 2013. Should You Eat While You Negotiate? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2013/01/should-you-eat-while-you-negot/.
Bargh, J. A. 1994. The Four Horsemen of Automaticity: Awareness, Intention, Efficiency, and Control in Social Cognition. In Handbook of Social Cognition, 2nd edn. edited by R. S. Wyer Jr. and T. K. Srull. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Beebe, S. A. 1980. Effects of Eye Contact, Posture, and Vocal Inflection Upon Credibility and Comprehension. Australian Scan: Journal of Human Communication 27: 92-97.
Bhappu, A. D. and Z. Barsness. 2006. Risks of Email. In The Negotiator’s Fieldbook: The Desk Reference for the Experienced Negotiator, edited by A. K. Schneider and C. Honeyman. Washington DC: American Bar Association.
Braeutigam, A. M. 2006. What I hear You Writing Is… Issues in ODR: Building Trust and Rapport in the Text-Based Environment. University of Toledo Law Review 38: 101-124.
Burgoon, J. K., L. K. Guerrero and K. Floyd. 2010. Nonverbal Communication. New York: Allyn and Bacon.
Carney, D. R., J. A. Hall and L. Smith LeBeau,. 2005. In the Mind of the Beholder: Beliefs About Social Power, Nonverbal Behavior, and Nonverbal Communication Skill. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 29: 205-123.
Chartrand, T. L. and J. A. Bargh. 1999. The Chameleon Effect: The Perceptual Behavioral Link of Social Interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 76(6): 893-910.
Choi, Y. S., H. M. Gray and N. Ambady. 2006. The Glimpsed World: Unintended Communication and Unintended Perception. In The New Unconscious (Social Cognition and Social Neuroscience) edited by R. Hassin, J. Uleman and J. Bargh. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cialdini, R. B. 2008. Influence: Science and Practice, 5th edn. New York: Allyn and Bacon.
Chaplin, W. F., J. B. Phillips, J. D. Brown, N. R. Clanton and J. L. Stein. 2000. Handshaking, Personality, Gender and First Impressions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 79(1): 110-117.
DePaulo, B. M., K. Lanier and T. Davis. 1983. Detecting the Deceit of the Motivated Liar. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 45(5): 1096-1103.
Dolcos, S., K. Sung, J. J. Argo, S. Flor-Henry and F. Dolcos. 2012. The Power of a Handshake: Neural Correlates of Evaluative Judgments in Observed Social Interactions. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 24(12): 2292-2305.
Ekman, P. 1992. Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage. New York: Norton.
Ekman, P. and W. V. Friesen. 1969. The Repertoire of Nonverbal Behavior: Categories, Origins, Usage, and Coding. Semiotica, 1: 49-98.
Feldman, R. S. and B. Rime. 1991. Fundamentals of Nonverbal Behavior. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Geiselman, R. E., S. Elmgren, C. Green and I. Rystad. 2011. Training Laypersons to Detect Deception in Oral Narratives and Exchanges. American Journal of Forensic Psychology 32: 1-22.
Goffman, E. 1963. Behavior in Public Places: Notes on the Social Organization of Gatherings. New York: Free Press.
Hall, J. A., J. A. Harrigan and R. Rosenthal. 1995. Nonverbal Behavior in Clinician-Patient Interaction. Applied and Preventive Psychology 4(1): 21-37.
Hall, J. A. 2009. Nonverbal Behavior in Social Psychology Research: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly. In Then A Miracle Occurs: Focusing on Behavior in Social Psychological Theory and Research. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Hayes, J. 2002. Interpersonal Skills at Work, 2nd edn. New York: Routledge.
Helsing, R. and T. Alper. 1983. Touch: A Bonding Gesture. In Nonverbal Interaction, edited by J. M. Wiemann and R. Harrison. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Knapp, M. L. and J. A. Hall. 2007. Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction, 7th edn. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Lakin, J. L. and T. L. Chartrand. 2003. Using Nonconscious Behavioral Mimicry to Create Affiliation and Rapport. Psychological Science 14(4): 334-339.
Lakin, J. L. 2006. Automatic Cognitive Process and Nonverbal Communication. In Handbook of Nonverbal Communication, edited by V. Manusov and M. Patterson. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
LaPlante, D. and N. Ambady. 2003. On How Things Are Said: Voice, Tone, Voice Intensity, Verbal Content, and Perceptions of Politeness. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 22(4): 34-441.
Lewicki, R., D. M. Saunders and B. Barry. 2011. Essentials of Negotiation, 5th edn. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Manusov, V. 1991. Perceiving Nonverbal Messages: Effects of Immediacy and Encoded Intent on Receiver Judgments. Western Journal of Speech Communication 55(3): 235-253.
Mehrabian, A. 1969. Methods and Designs: Some Referents and Measures of Nonverbal Behavior. Behavioral Research Methods and Instrumentation 1(6): 203-207.
Nadler, J. 2004. Rapport: Rapport in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. Marquette Law Review 87(4): 876-882.
Noone, M. 1997. Mediating Personnel Injuries Disputes. In Rethinking Disputes: The Mediation Alternative, edited by J. Macfarlane. Toronto: Emond Montgomery.
Passamonti L., M. J. Crockett, A. M. Apergis-Schoute, L. Clark, J. B. Rowe, A. J. Calder and T. W. Robbins. 2012. Effects of Acute Tryptophan Depletion on Prefrontal-Amygdala Connectivity While Viewing Facial Signals of Aggression. Biological Psychiatry 71(1): 36-43.
Patterson, M. L. 2011. More Than Words: The Power of Nonverbal Communication. Spain: Aresta.
Poitras, J. 2009. What Makes Parties Trust Mediators? Negotiation Journal 25(3): 307-325.
Porter, S. and L. ten Brinke. 2008. Reading Between the Lies: Identifying Concealed and Falsified Emotions in Universal Facial Expressions. Psychological Science 19(5): 508-514.
Porter, S., L. ten Brinke and B. Wallace. 2012. Secrets and Lies: Involuntary Leakage in Deceptive Facial Expressions as a Function of Emotional Intensity. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 36(1): 23-37.
Rapoport, A. 1990. The Meaning of the Built Environment: A Nonverbal Communication Approach, 2nd edn. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona.
Robbennolt, J. K. and J. R. Sternlight. 2012. Psychology for Lawyers. Chicago, IL: ABA Publishing.
Rose, Y. J. and W. W. Tryon. 1979. Judgments of Assertive Behavior as a Function of Speech Loudness, Latency, Content, Gestures, Inflection, and Sex. Behavior Modification 3(1): 112-123.
Schroeder, J., J. Risen, F. Gino and M. I. Norton. 2014. Handshaking Promotes Cooperative Dealmaking. Harvard Business School Working Paper 14-117. Accessed May 24, 2016, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2443674.
Slatkin, A. A. 2013. Communication in Crisis and Hostage Negotiations. Springfield, IL: Thomas Publishing.
Stuart, D. L., S. L. Dustin, M. R. Barrick and T. C. Darnold. 2008. Exploring the Handshake in Employment Interviews. Journal of Applied Psychology 93(5): 1139-1146.
Thaler, R. H. and C. R. Sunstein. 2008. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Thompson, L. 2005. The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator, 3rd edn. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Thompson, J. 2013. Active Listening Techniques of Hostage and Crisis Negotiators. PsychologyToday.com. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beyond-words/201311/active-listening-techniques-hostage-crisis-negotiators.
Thompson, J. 2015. Nonverbal Communication and the Skills of Effective Mediators: Developing Rapport, Building Trust, and Displaying Professionalism (doctoral thesis). Griffith University, Brisbane.
Tickle-Degnen, L. and R. Rosenthal. 1990. The Nature of Rapport and Its Nonverbal Correlates. Psychological Inquiry 1(4): 285-293.
Trees, A. R. and V. Manusov. 1998. Managing Face Concerns in Criticism Integrating Nonverbal Behaviors as a Dimension of Politeness in Female Friendship Dyads. Human Communication Research 24(4): 564-583.
Zeigler-Kratz, N. and L. L. Marshall. 1990. Impressions of Therapists: The Effects of Gaze, Smiling and Gender. Journal of Psychology and the Behavioral Sciences 5: 115-129.