Cultural differences in how anger is expressed can impact negotiations

[caption id="attachment_11185" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Anger"][/caption]

 Carol Forsloff - Getting visibly angry in the presence of someone of European American ancestry may cause an entirely different response among East Asians or others, and that
difference can impact relationships.

A study has demonstrated there is a difference in how folks of European background are able to accept and understand overt expressions of anger and how those of East Asian extraction socially examine and accept those same expressions.

You might get your way getting angry in negotiations with some people but not with
others, according to recent research.  There is a cultural difference in
how anger is expressed and how it is considered in a given situation.

Previous research has shown that anger can get more concessions than happiness,
but that research has been largely done with Western populations,
according to Hajo Adam of INSEAD in France.  He was one of those who
researched this issue with William Maddux of INSEAD and Aiwa Shirako of
the University of California - Berkeley.

Adam noticed differences in the expression of feelings at the institute where he
works. "INSEAD is very diverse, with people from all over the world. I
noticed that sometimes people get angry, and you see that people react differently to that. I was wondering whether a lot of those different reactions might be explained by cultural backgrounds."

As an example, Adam points to how President Clinton expressed his anger in an
aggressive way with Japan during negotiations during the 1990's.  The
Japanese were upset with this, and the negotiations failed for that
reason.

In the present study researchers used subjects from both European and Asian
backgrounds using computers to show expressions of anger, then tested
them on negotiations afterward.  What they found is that those of
European extraction gave in to angry opponents, whereas Asians were more
resistant.

In a related study, Asians and Asian Americans made greater concessions to an angry opponent
if they were told that expressing anger was reasonable and acceptable,
and European Americans did the opposite and were less likely to make
concessions if they were told that anger was unacceptable. When anger
expressions are perceived as inappropriate.

 "People tend to react negatively. They no longer want to concede," says Adam. "They may even
want to shut down and potentially penalize the counterpart for acting
inappropriately."

"I think what's important is that one person expressing emotions really affects another
person's feelings, thoughts, and behavior," says Adam. "And these
reactions to emotional displays can critically depend on a person's
cultural background."

The research is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.