The Utility of Relationships in Negotiation Page 1 of 22 PRINTED FROM OXFORD HANDBOOKS ONLINE (www.oxfordhandbooks.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2015. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Handbooks Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy). Subscriber: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); date: 27 February 2018 Abstract and Keywords This article emphasizes the recent developments identifying the importance of the relationship between the bargaining parties as an objective in and of itself, aside from the outcomes that emerge from the interaction. A focus on decision utility stresses that concern for the relationship and associated norms may affect preferences for various outcomes, which can be financially detrimental in the short-term yet economically advantageous in the long-term. Incorporating experienced utility seems to be especially relevant within a negotiation context, given that negotiators are often filled with a range of emotions and affective reactions. Negotiators might be motivated to preserve and improve their own identity through their relationships with their counterparts. Relationships between negotiators may affect preferences for different objective outcomes in the short term due to concerns over preserving the relationship relative to substantive concerns. Keywords: bargaining parties, decision utility, experienced utility, negotiators, negotiation Most studies examine the financial outcomes of a bargaining encounter in order to evaluate its success. Ashley D. Brown and Jared R. Curhan argue that the postnegotiation relationships between the bargaining parties is also an important outcome that should be incorporated into their value. This insight helps to explain a wide variety of otherwise puzzling bargaining behavior and opens up new research questions to be answered. Ashley D. Brown is a PhD student at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her work draws on psychological perspectives to explore how individuals interpret negotiation processes. Jared R. Curhan is Sloan Distinguished Professor of Management and Associate Professor of organization studies The Utility of Relationships in Negotiation Ashley D. Brown and Jared R. Curhan The Oxford Handbook of Economic Conflict Resolution Edited by Rachel Croson and Gary E. Bolton Print Publication Date: Sep 2012 Subject: Economics and Finance, Micro, Behavioral, and Neuro-Economics, Economic Theory and Mathematical Models Online Publication Date: Dec 2012 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199730858.013.0011 Oxford Handbooks Online