ARGUMENT IN NEGOTIATION: A THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL APPROACH.

The concern is with the communicative process of negotiation as a form of conflict resolution. Contemporary literature expresses the view that the role of communication in negotiation cannot be ignored. Communication researchers, however, have not identified, analyzed, and integrated into a single model the specific communication patterns that exist during bargaining. The paper presents a paradigm to (1) facilitate empirical research, and (2) report the results of two empirical studies derived from that paradigm. A communication-centered theory of negotiation derives from a recognition that negotiation models often ignore the interaction of the negotiators and instead focus on a determination of outcome.