Competitive Versus Cooperative Processes
Deutsch (1949a, 1949b, 1973) proposed that social interactions, including negotiations, are predominantly competitive or cooperative. In competitive situations, the goals of the parties are negatively correlated: One party can only attain its goal to the extent that another party does not.
In cooperative situations, the goals of the parties are positively correlated: One party can only attain its goal to the extent that the other party does too. Deutsch also highlighted a third situation, in which the goals of the two parties are independent. Overall, he suggested that situational factors define goal interdependencies among the parties, and these interdependencies predetermine their interaction dynamics (strategies). However, he pointed out that most real situations involve mixed sets of goals and interdependencies, and parties’ psychological representations of their situation could differ from objective reality, possibly with behavioral effects (Deutsch, 1949b).
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