Rethinking the game: Zero sum mindsets in workplace behaviors

ABSTRACT During this talk I will describe my work around zero-sum perceptions at the workplace and implications for workplace behaviors. I will then present a project (currently in initial stages) with Nelly Arbel-Groissman (UMD) and Einav Hart (George Mason University) that deals with negotiating controversial policies at work. Many of the most consequential negotiations within organizations concern morally charged issues rather than purely economic or preference-based ones. Yet existing negotiation theory and tools were developed for more business-like disputes, leaving open the question of how these tools function when negotiators disagree about morally-laden issues. This project advances a research program that examines whether negotiations over moralized issues systematically differ from negotiations over less moralized issues, and whether a structured negotiation tool—the scoring system—can help negotiators navigate these challenging conversations. We evaluate whether providing negotiators with the guidance of the scoring system, which structures preferences and enables logrolling, can reduce the penalty of moralized issues by helping negotiators move beyond binary positions and identify mutually beneficial trade-offs. This research aims to broaden negotiation theory beyond "value-neutral" contexts, identify when standard negotiation tools are—and are not—effective for morally charged issues, and provide evidence-based guidance for teaching and managing negotiations in increasingly polarized organizational environments.