An environmental group haggling over an emissions policy. A legislator proposing a budget for a new social program. A heated debate with your spouse over who takes out the garbage. Negotiations in which someone will have to bear a cost are contentious, much more contentious -- and therefore likely to lead to impasses -- than negotiating over benefits (such as a year-end bonus, for instance). Individuals irrationally resist costs much more vigorously than they pursue equivalent benefits. This…

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Read more stories by J. Magee.