Insincere negotiations: How negotiators can misrepresent their objectives to exploit counterparts during and after...

Insincere negotiations involve at least one negotiator who deceptively professes the objective of reaching an agreement, but has ulterior motives or who never intends to honor the negotiated agreement. Insincere negotiations are prevalent and consequential in many contexts, from diplomacy to modern-day professional interactions. Yet, the literature has largely ignored the possibility and impact of insincere negotiations, often defining negotiations as involving people who want to reach an agreement. In this article, I expand the definition of negotiations to include insincere negotiations. Understanding insincere negotiations is important because insincere negotiations can facilitate the exploitation of counterparts during negotiations (stalling or wasting time, stealing proprietary information) and after negotiations (violating agreements). Future work should examine how this exploitation can be prevented.