Work

Resolving the complexity–flexibility dilemma in multi-issue negotiations: Nested bracketing as a strategy to enhance negotiation outcomes.

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: = 1,602), we investigate how different bracketing strategies influence joint outcomes. We first examine subset bracketing, a widely used cognitive strategy that improves outcomes when it aligns with task flexibility-namely, when integrative trade-off opportunities are concentrated within subsets-but hinders outcomes when it misaligns, with such opportunities scattered across subsets. To address this limitation, we propose nested bracketing-a hierarchical information-processing strategy in which issues are organized into subordinate subsets to manage complexity and then integrated into a superordinate structure to preserve flexibility. Across studies, nested bracketing enables negotiators to recognize dispersed integrative trade-off opportunities by fostering insight into counterparts' priorities, thereby improving joint negotiation outcomes. This work clarifies when subset bracketing helps or hurts in multi-issue negotiations and introduces nested bracketing as an effective approach for managing complexity without sacrificing flexibility. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Source: Journal of Applied Psychology

DOI: 10.1037/apl0001332

Authors: Hong Zhang, Johann M. Majer, Marco Warsitzka, Roman Trötschel

Institutions: Leuphana University of Lüneburg, University of Hildesheim

Language: English

Topic: Conflict Management and Negotiation

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Award: G3887634995