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Lying and Smiling: Informational and Emotional Deception in Negotiation

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Abstract

This study investigated attitudes toward the use of deception in negotiation, with particular attention to the distinction between deception regarding the informational elements of the interaction (e.g., lying about or misrepresenting needs or preferences) and deception about emotional elements (e.g., misrepresenting one’s emotional state). We examined how individuals judge the relative ethical appropriateness of these alternative forms of deception, and how these judgments relate to negotiator performance and long-run reputation. Individuals viewed emotionally misleading tactics as more ethically appropriate to use in negotiation than informational deception. Approval of deception predicted negotiator performance in a negotiation simulation and also general reputation as a negotiator, but the nature of these relationships depended on the kind of deception involved.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Management, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.

    Ingrid Smithey Fulmer

  2. Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.

    Bruce Barry

  3. Gordian Health Solutions, Inc.,, Franklin, Tennessee, U.S.A.

    D. Adam Long

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  1. Ingrid Smithey Fulmer
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  2. Bruce Barry
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  3. D. Adam Long
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Correspondence to Ingrid Smithey Fulmer.

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Ingrid Smithey Fulmer (PhD, Vanderbilt University) is an assistant professor of organizational behavior in the College of Management at Georgia Institute of Technology.

Bruce Barry (PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) is a professor of management and sociology at Vanderbilt University.

D. Adam Long (PhD, Vanderbilt University) is vice president for research and informatics at Gordian Health Solutions, Inc.

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Fulmer, I.S., Barry, B. & Long, D.A. Lying and Smiling: Informational and Emotional Deception in Negotiation. J Bus Ethics 88, 691–709 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9975-x

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