Resilience in care: An integrative negotiation perspective on the behavioral dynamics of resource exchanges in...

Caring is inextricably intertwined with resilience: the ability of individuals and collectives to deal with setbacks. To respond resiliently, actors draw on resources that may lie beyond their direct reach, requiring the engagement of others within the care system. The complex, hierarchical, and fragmented nature of care systems both necessitates and complicates cooperation and coordination between actors as they pursue or support resilient responses.

Relational perspectives on resilience provide a starting point for understanding the relational processes determining whether and how resources are exchanged. However, they do not provide insight into the behavioral dynamics that help explain how interdependent actors negotiate their relationships as they pursue or support resilience.

Drawing on the integrative negotiation theory, we extend resource-based and relational perspectives on resilience by elucidating the interactional specifics of how actors can collaborate to effectively deal with setbacks-even when they pursue seemingly conflicting outcomes. Highlighting the importance of voice, epistemic motivation, and prosocial motivation, we capture the interpersonal dynamics that shape (a) awareness of resource needs and others' ability to provide these; (b) interactions informing decisions on whether and how resources are exchanged; and (c) the ability to find integrative solutions that go beyond zero-sum exchanges, serving all actors' interests and needs.

Our framework informs the collective development of resilient solutions. We highlight the behavioral repertoires (i.e., the interactions through which resources are pursued, negotiated, and/or shared), enabling actors within care systems to build on their interdependencies as they pursue or support resilient responses to setbacks.