News & Archive

(May 3, 2002)

Wednesday, May 15th

Whether negotiating with a spouse or mediating a conflict between governmental leaders, negotiators cannot escape the influence of emotions. Yet negotiators rarely deal with emotions as well as they could -- leading many negotiations to falter or fail.

This Dispute Resolution Forum workshop will focus on the role of emotions in negotiation. First, we will explore some of the ways that negative emotions are fostered in negotiation. What do people do that builds resentment and inspires revenge? How should you analyze the role of emotions in a negotiation? The second focus of the workshop will be to consider ways to enlist emotions in a positive way to encourage joint problem solving and to reduce the likelihood of resentment and revenge.

Daniel L. Shapiro, Ph.D., is an Associate at the Harvard Negotiation Project and a Senior Lecturer at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds a degree in clinical psychology and performs supervisory work as a Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He and Professor Roger Fisher are currently working on a book manuscript focused on how to deal with emotions in negotiation. Dr. Shapiro has developed conflict management programs in Eastern and Central Europe, and he is the author of a curriculum on conflict management that is used in more than 18 countries and in over 8,000 schools and universities.

Following Dr. Shapiro's talk is a Peervision case conference, in which Susan Sylva will present an EEOC case with an employee, a union representative, and a manager. The central issue is how to deal with emotions.

Time and Place
Wednesday, May 15
Harkness Commons South Dining Room (behind and to the left of Pound Hall -- interactive map)
DRF: 8:30-10:00 a.m. (Continental Breakfast at 8:00)
Peervision: 10:15-11:20 a.m.