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Controlled And Deliberate Emotional Control
Barry (1999:97) calls emotional control "an individual's ability to exhibit( or
avoid exhibiting) an emotional response as a matter ofpersonal desire rather than as an
involuntiny consequence of environmental conditions." He stresses the point that
emotional control is not only about inhibiting or suppressing emotions as is usually
conceptualised or empirically treated, but it is both the expression and the inhibition of
emotion during interpersonal negotiation.
Barry (1999:96) bases his discussion on Averill's research (1994), which
analyses emotional control into three levels of abstraction. The highest level of
abstraction is where 'emotional syndromes" are found i.e. abstract notions like anger,
fear and love. He says these indicate how an individual should behave. The lower level
of abstraction contains emotional states i.e. more abstract "shorter-term episodic
tendencies" ofbehaviour. The lowest level of abstraction contains emotional reactions
i.e. how a person actually responds when he experiences an emotional state like
automatic or "physiological reactions, facial expressions, and so forth." (Barry
1999:96-97) According to Averill there are social rules, which govern "how and when
emotions are formed and used in social interaction." Therefore an individual needs to
use techniques correctly when displaying or exhibiting emotions in order to achieve his
objectives.
Bruce mentions four dimensions along which emotional control varies. Firstly,
it varies in direction i.e. it can be used when negotiators want to express emotion like
anger to show dissatisfaction. It can also be used to suppress or inhibit emotion like
when an opponent has made a very considerable concession and you are delighted, but
you do not want to show it.
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