The Effect of Expectancy Violations About Conflict Styles on Negotiation

Keywords: Communication, conflict style, expectancy violations

Abstract: This study investigates the role of expectations about the other party’s conflict style within negotiation by using expectancy violations theory to examine how negotiators change their tactics when their expectations are met or violated. Conflict styles are based on Pruitt and Rubin’s (1986) dual concern model and are measured using the ROCI-II assessment. The proposed study tests whether negotiators presume their opponent will use a conflict style similar to their own and whether negotiators are more satisfied when using negotiation tactics that show high versus low other-concern, even when these tactics are contrary to their expectations for how the conflict will be handled by the other party. A pretest suggests negotiators presume a conflict style similar to their own and are more satisfied with a style motivated by high concern for the other’s outcomes, even when this is contrary to their expectations for how the conflict will be handled.