Getting off to a “Hot” Start: How the Timing of Expressed Anger Influences Relational Outcomes in Negotiation

Many scholars have found that expressing anger in a negotiation can have positive effects on a focal negotiator’s economic outcomes (e.g., Van Kleef, De Dreu, & Manstead, 2004a) but adverse effects on relational outcomes (e.g., Allred, Mallozzi, Matsui, & Raia, 1997). However, little is known as to how the temporal positioning of expressed anger during the negotiation may influence relational outcomes. This is an important omission in the literature because negotiation is a dynamic social process in which an emotion such as anger expressed at different stages of a negotiation may signal different intentions and elicit different responses. Using the theory of Emotion as Social Information (EASI) as a foundation, we hypothesized that anger expressed toward the later stages of a negotiation would hurt one’s relationship with his or her counterpart more than anger expressed at an early stage because a common expectation in negotiation is that negotiators would transition from a competitive stance to a more cooperative approach. Three studies provided consistent empirical support for this hypothesis. Practical implications and future directions are discussed.