Intuition suggests that individual differences should play an important role in negotiation performance, and yet empirical results have been relatively weak. Because negotiations are inherently dyadic, the dyad needs to feature prominently in theorizing. In expanding the traditional treatment of individual differences to two systematically interconnected parties, a relational process model (RPM) emerges. The RPM illustrates how the individual differences of both negotiators spark complex behavioral dynamics through five distinct theoretical mechanisms. Individuals (a) select each other, (b) set expectancies for each other, (c) serve as behavioral triggers and affordances for each other, (d) reciprocate and complement each other’s behaviors, and (e) vary in their responses to identical behaviors. It also directs attention to new classes and dimensions of individual difference factors. The RPM helps explain why past research has been highly conservative. A more complete picture needs to incorporate the complex interplay starting with parties’ individual differences.

直觉表明，个体差异应在谈判绩效中发挥重要作用，但经验结果相对较弱。由于谈判本质上是二元的，因此在理论上必须使二分法突出。在将传统的个体差异处理方法扩展到两个系统互连的各方时，出现了一个关系过程模型（RPM）。RPM通过五个不同的理论机制说明了两个谈判者的个体差异如何引发复杂的行为动力学。个人（a）彼此选择，（b）彼此设定期望，（c）彼此作为行为的触发和承受力，（d）相互交换和补充彼此的行为，并且（e）他们对相同行为的反应各不相同行为。它还将注意力转移到各个差异因子的新类别和新维度上。RPM帮助解释了为什么过去的研究一直高度保守。需要更完整的图景，以各方的个体差异为起点，并入复杂的相互作用。