Emotions in Real Estate Negotiations

Prior research has been conducted on emotions in negotiations in lab settings. Researchers have found that anger in negotiations has been linked to value-claiming, impasses, and unethical behavior. This study seeks to expand such research into the field of negotiations between real estate agents and their clients, as well as between one another. Structured interviews with real estate agents were used to collect data on the topic. These interviews were then coded for links between the expression of emotions and their influence on the negotiation process and outcome. While some of the aforementioned links were found to exist, the emotional influence on negotiation outcomes is largely different than what has been found in the lab due to the nature of the client-agent relationship, financial incentives, and other factors that are unique to a real estate field setting.