Coping mechanisms of hostage and crisis negotiators during acute stress and its effect on performance

Abstract: The aim of this study was to explore coping mechanisms used in acute stress situations and how these effect performance. Specifically, the aim was to study how hostage and crisis negotiators use different types of coping mechanisms to reach a positive result in negotiations. Crisis negotiations have several attributes that make them interesting to study from a coping perspective.  They regularly present high-stake situations where people’s well-being and lives can be at risk, creating a highly stressful situation for the negotiator. These situations are often very emotionally charged and the negotiator has to deal with both the emotions of the person they are negotiating with as well as their own. A qualitative method was used in the study and the data was collected in semi-structured interviews. A content analysis was carried out to analyse the material. Five categories were distilled from the material; team, internal skills, negotiation tools, physical techniques and organisation. Themes that particularly stood out were the importance of the support from the team, internal skills such as self-control and lowering physiological stress reactions by deep breathing. These were all seen as contributing to an increased performance.