Recent research suggests that many times one or both parties in an interaction will struggle with irrationality or dysfunction. Understanding the types of dysfunctional personalities that negotiators might encounter, and how to deal with them, becomes an important measure of preparation for any professional negotiator. For this reason, this article reviews how better to identify, understand, and negotiate with counterparts who exhibit challenging, difficult, and dysfunctional behaviors.

Instrumentalism, the philosophy that rational people will behave in ways that promote self‐interest, is often the default assumption that scholars and practitioners rely upon when interpreting and predicting human behavior in negotiations. Instrumentalism, however, need not be the only lens through which negotiators and negotiations are viewed. In this article, we discuss some of the problems associated with too heavy a reliance on instrumentalism and propose an alternative relational approach, one in which negotiators see themselves as agents embedded in a system of relationships, who are motivated to understand and advance the welfare of others. We discuss some of the characteristics that differentiate negotiators who adopt a relational versus instrumental approach and invite scholars and practitioners to consider the implications of viewing negotiations through a more relational lens.