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Resolving the complexity-flexibility dilemma in multi-issue negotiations: Nested bracketing as a strategy to enhance
Hong Zhang1, Johann M Majer2, Marco Warsitzka1
1Department of Social, Organisational, and Political Psychology, Institute of Sustainability Psychology, Leuphana University Luneburg.
The Journal of Applied Psychology
|December 8, 2025
Summary
Negotiators face complexity in multi-issue talks. Nested bracketing, a cognitive strategy, helps manage complexity and improve outcomes by revealing trade-off opportunities.
Area of Science:
- Decision Science
- Cognitive Psychology
- Negotiation Research
Background:
- Multi-issue negotiations involve a complexity-flexibility dilemma.
- High issue numbers increase complexity, requiring trade-off processing.
- Issue bracketing strategies are cognitive tools to manage negotiation complexity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how issue bracketing strategies influence joint negotiation outcomes.
- To compare the effectiveness of subset bracketing versus nested bracketing.
- To introduce nested bracketing as a method to manage complexity while preserving flexibility.
Main Methods:
- Six experiments were conducted with 1,602 participants.
- Researchers examined the impact of different issue bracketing strategies on negotiation outcomes.
- The study analyzed how subset bracketing and nested bracketing affect the recognition of integrative trade-offs.
Main Results:
- Subset bracketing improves outcomes when trade-offs align with subsets, but hinders them when scattered.
- Nested bracketing, a hierarchical strategy, helps negotiators identify dispersed trade-off opportunities.
- Nested bracketing fosters insight into counterpart priorities, leading to better joint outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Subset bracketing's effectiveness is contingent on the alignment of trade-offs within subsets.
- Nested bracketing offers an effective approach to manage complexity in multi-issue negotiations.
- Nested bracketing enhances joint outcomes by improving information processing and flexibility.
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