Mind and Heart of the Negotiator, Second Edition, The

Repairing Broken Trust

There are three cases of broken trust between negotiators. In the first, which we call the violator-and-victim case, one party feels violated by the other party. The violator may or may not know that the victim feels wronged; thus, the revelation that trust has been broken may come as a surprise to the violator. A second case of broken trust is what we call the dual-victim case, in which each person feels wronged by the other. This can often be a more difficult situation to resolve because both parties feel uniquely violated, regard the other party to be completely at fault, and feel that an apology should be forthcoming. The third case of broken trust is what we call the dual-violator case, in which both people knowingly ...