Newswise — President Trump is expected to announce soon the date and location of his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. While there is much anticipation about the substance of the talks, Daniel Shapiro, PhD, founder and director of the Harvard International Negotiation Program, believes the underlying emotions and mindset of the two leaders will be most critical to success.

“My research suggests that how the parties feel during the negotiation process is more important. What can be done to build positive relations between these leaders? Should they join as leaders, or friends or ‘working partners?’” said Shapiro.

Shapiro has launched successful conflict resolution initiatives in the Middle East, East Asia and Europe and has built a framework that offers substantial insight into common emotional pitfalls to effective negotiation, such as dealing poorly with a negotiator’s concern for status, autonomy and appreciation.

He advises the leaders to go into the meeting with a positive frame of mind.

“U.S. and North Korea relations have, until recently, been characterized as tribalistic, with each country viewing the conflict as a zero-sum competition between sworn enemies. Recent events have shifted parties away from that mentality, but one wrong move by either party can easily reignite that mindset and cause negotiations to fail. Our research has uncovered a set of emotional dynamics that negotiators should beware of to avoid that attitude and build collegial relations,” he said.

About Shapiro

Shapiro has published extensively in the field of conflict resolution and authored “Negotiating the Nonnegotiable” and co-authored “Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate.” He is an associate professor in psychology at Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital and affiliate faculty at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. Shapiro is a member of the American Psychological Association.

Contact information for Daniel Shapiro, PhD

[email protected]                                            (617) 495-9694

Contact information for the American Psychological Association

Kaitlin Luna, public affairs manager
[email protected]
(202) 336-5706