Prof. Dr. Roman Trötschel

Roman Trötschel
21335 Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, C11.323
Fon +49.4131.677-1759, roman.troetschel@leuphana.de
Professor, Professorship of Social-, Organizational and Political Psychology, especially empirical Negotiation Research
Associated member, Leuphana Center for Cooperative Security (LCCS)

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Vita

Roman Trötschel is Professor of Social and Political Psychology at the Faculty of Sustainability at Leuphana University Lüneburg. He leads the Negotiation Research Group (NRG), which studies decisions, strategies, mindsets, and group dynamics in societal, political, and economic negotiations. The group’s research is funded by national and international institutions such as the German Research Foundation (DFG), the European Union (ERDF), the Volkswagen Foundation, the Kellogg School of Management, and the Hans Böckler Foundation. Findings are published in leading international journals in psychology, sustainability science, and economics.

Psychological Perspectives on Negotiations

Psychological negotiation research empirically examines the “human factor” in bargaining—how negotiators’ mental processes, emotions, and behaviors shape the negotiation process and its outcomes. It explores when psychological processes facilitate the exploration of mutual acceptable and beneficial agreements and when they become obstacles. Roman Trötschel’s work focuses on mechanisms such as cognitive heuristics (e.g., anchoring, framing, mental accounting), motivational processes (e.g., self-regulation, goal setting), mindsets (e.g., perspective-taking, integrative mindsets), group dynamics (e.g., social identity, group processes), and psychological conflicts in scarce resource negotiations (e.g., public goods negotiations, commons negotiations).

The Negotiation Research Group (NRG) investigates psychological mechanisms in negotiations that drive economic, ecological, and societal transformation. Transformation negotiations aim to initiate, shape, and manage fundamental change in economic, environmental, societal, or cultural domains. Their goal is to promote sustainable development by:

  1. a) addressing multiple dimensions of outcomes (economic, ecological, and social),
  2. b) integrating diverse and multilateral interests of stakeholders both at and beyond the negotiation table, and
  3. c) balancing immediate, short-term, and long-term interests of stakeholders in the present and the future.

In essence, transformation negotiations seek sustainable agreements to intergroup ans well as intergenerational conflicts of interests arising in times of transition.

Psychological Perspectives on Transformation Negotiations

From a psychological perspective, negotiating transformation poses extraordinary challenges because it heightens cognitive demands and triggers conflicts at multiple levels—within individuals, between individuals, within groups, and between groups and different generations. Negotiators must balance benefits and burdens across different outcome dimensions, account for the interests of parties at the table as well as those absent from it, and reconcile immediate with future consequences. Only by considering these multidimensional negotiation outcomes—conflicts between present and future generations, across different groups at different locations, or across different types of outcomes such as economic, social, or ecological benefits and burdens —can genuinely sustainable agreements be achieved.

Adding to this complexity, transformation negotiations are typically marked by high levels of uncertainty and unpredictability. This given complexity makes it particularly difficult to reach long lasting conflict resolutions, as negotiators must design agreements for futures that remain uncertain and, at times, unknowable.

Current Research Projects
As transformation negotiations are affected by the complex interplay of various psychological factors that have not yet been systematically addressed in empirical negotiation research, different psychological mechanisms are investigated in separate research projects of the NRG. The following list of research fundings, Ph.D.- and habilitation projects (i.e., postdoctoral research projects) provides a brief overview of the ongoing research on transformation negotiations at the NRG.

  • Mental accounting in negotiations with multiple-dimensional outcomes: Balancing benefits and burdens across different utility dimensions (PI: Roman Trötschel; Co-PIs: Marco Schauer, Kai Zhang); Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)
  • Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Conflicts as a Barrier towards Sustainable Agreements (PI: Johann Majer, Co-PI: Roman Trötschel); Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)
  • Resource-allocations in distribution vs contribution negotiations: Bargaining the collectivization and privatization of benefits and burdens (PIs: Roman Trötschel, Hong Zhang, Simon Moran, Ilana Ritov; Co-PIs: Marie van Treek, Johann Majer, Kai Zhang); Funded by the Volkswagen-Foundation (VW-Stiftung)
  • Achieving Sustainable Agreements in Labor Negotiations: Evaluating a Mindset-Based Negotiation Training (PI: Roman Trötschel; Co-PI: Marco Warsitzka, Michel Mann, Joachim Hüffmeier); Funded by the Hans-Böckler-Foundation
  • Sustainable solutions in intra- and intergenerational conflicts (PI: Johann Majer, Marie van Treek; Co-PI: Roman Trötschel, Hong Zhang); Funded by the Leuphana-Research-Fund
  • Strategic agenda setting in integrative negotiations under time constraints (PI: Hong Zhang; Co-PI: Roman Trötschel) Funded by the Leuphana-Research-Fund
  • Dealing with Deals implying a Great Deal of Uncertainty, Incalculability, and Unpredictability in Negotiations (PI: Marco Schauer; Co-PI; Roman Trötschel, Johann Majer)
  • Negotiating Right of Ownership vs. Right of Use: Achieving Sustainable Negotiation Agreements through the Principles of Commoning (PI: Roman Trötschel; Co-PI: Caroline Heydenbluth, Hong Zhang, Hillie Aalderling)
  • Integrative Mindsets and the Solution of Value Conflicts (PI: Carolin Schuster, Co-PI: Roman Trötschel, Fieke Harrinck)

Teaching

BSc Psychology

  • Introduction to the Discipline: Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Empircal Research Project
  • Advanced Topics in Empircal Research Methods
  • Advanced Topics in Developmental, Differential, and Social Psychology

MSc International Research Mastter in Work and Organizational Psychology

  • International and intercultural Negotiations

MSc Psychology and Sustainability

  • Psychology and Society: Political Negotiations and Sustainability
  • Transdisciplinary Research Project

 

Research Interests

  • cognitive and motivational processes in negotiations (perspective taking, mental accounting, anchoring, cognitive biases, fixed-pie perception, framing, temporal construal, uncertainty, incalculability, and unpredictability)
  • Sustainable conflict solutions and negotiations (intragenerational vs. intergenerational conflicts, externalities, political communication, representative negotiations)
  • Social-dilemma negotiations (resource-contribution vs. distribution negotiations; negotiations on commons) 
  • Third-party intervention (arbitration, mediation)
  • Group-processes and social identity (process losses and gains, individual vs. collective identity)
  • Self-regulation in negotiations (goal setting and planing)

Projects

  1. Mental Accounting in Negotiations with Externalities
    Roman Trötschel (Project manager, academic)
    →

    Project: Research

  2. The Interplay of Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Conflicts as a Barrier to Sustainable Solutions
    Roman Trötschel (Project manager, academic) , Johann Majer (Project manager, academic)
    →

    Project: Research

  3. Konzeption und Evaluierung eines Mindset-orientierten Verhandlungstrainings
    Roman Trötschel (Project manager, academic) , Marco Warsitzka (Project manager, academic) , Michel Mann (Project staff)
    →

    Project: Research

  4. Sustainable Solutions in Intergenerational Conflicts
    (Project staff) , Roman Trötschel (Partner) , Johann Majer (Project manager, academic)
    →

    Project: Research

  5. Mental Accounting in Allocation Negotiations
    Roman Trötschel (Project manager, academic) , Hong Zhang (Project manager, academic) , (Project manager, academic) , (Project manager, academic) , Johann Majer (Project staff)
    →

    Project: Research

View all projects

Publications

Books and anthologies

  1. Den Verlust vor Augen, die Einigung im Sinn: Zur Realisierung prosozialer Verhandlungsziele durch Vorsätze
    Roman Trötschel (Author) , 2001 Osnabrück , 301 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research › peer-review

View all publications

Journal contributions

  1. Playing it Safe: Negotiators Avoid Uncertainty and Reach Safer, But Less Integrative Agreements
    Marco Schauer (Author) , Johann M. Majer (Author) , Caroline Heydenbluth (Author) , Roman Trötschel (Author) , 01.07.2026 , in: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 125 , 33 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  2. Structuring success: How issue-packaging agendas foster better joint outcomes in multi-issue negotiations
    Hong Zhang (Author) , Ingmar Geiger (Author) , Johann M. Majer (Author) , Roman Trötschel (Author) , 01.03.2026 , in: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 123 , 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  3. Thinking Beyond the Bargaining Table: Negotiators’ Perceptions, Behaviours and Outcomes in Negotiations Affecting External Parties
    Kai Zhang (Author) , Hong Zhang (Author) , Roman Trötschel (Author) , Hillie Aaldering (Author) , Johann M. Majer (Author) , 01.12.2025 , in: European Journal of Social Psychology, 55, 7 , p. 1152-1170 , 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  4. How, when and why do negotiators use reference points?: A qualitative interview study with negotiation practitioners
    Roman Trötschel (Author) , Marco Warsitzka (Author) , Michel Mann (Author) , Joachim Hüffmeier (Author) , 28.04.2025 , in: International Journal of Conflict Management, 36, 3 , p. 481-513 , 33 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  5. Resolving the Complexity-Flexibility Dilemma in Multi-Issue Negotiations: Nested Bracketing as a Strategy to Enhance Negotiation Outcomes
    Hong Zhang (Author) , Marco Warsitzka (Author) , Roman Trötschel (Author) , Johann M. Majer (Author) , 01.01.2025 , in: Journal of Applied Psychology , 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

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Contributions to collected editions/anthologies

  1. Wie treffen Gruppen gute Entscheidungen? "Holzbein Kiel" - eine Übung zur Entscheidungsfindung in Gruppen
    Marco Warsitzka (Author) , Roman Trötschel (Author) , Joachim Hüffmeier (Author) , Michel Mann (Author) , 01.01.2024 Stuttgart , p. 8-19 , 12 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Article in conference proceedings › Transfer

  2. Verhandeln
    Roman Trötschel (Author) , David D. Loschelder (Author) , Jürgen Deller (Author) , Dieter Frey (Author) , Benjamin Höhne (Author) , Johann Martin Majer (Author) , 20.02.2017 1 ed. Göttingen , p. 803-846 , 44 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review

  3. Mentoring in Massive Open Online Courses - Eine Nutzenanalyse auf Basis des IS-Success-Modells
    Burkhardt Funk (Author) , Roman Trötschel (Author) , Katharina Drawert (Author) , Moritz Mager (Author) , Corinna Pfeifer (Author) , 01.03.2016 , p. 1511-1522 , 12 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Article in conference proceedings › Research › peer-review

  4. Verhandlungsforschung als Grundlage einer Mediationstheorie
    Roman Trötschel (Author) , Johann Martin Majer (Author) , Benjamin Höhne (Author) , 01.01.2016 3 ed. München , p. 163-186 , 24 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Education › peer-review

  5. Workplace mediation: Lessons from negotiation theory
    David D. Loschelder (Author) , Roman Trötschel (Author) , Benjamin Höhne (Author) , Lisa Gutenbrunner (Author) , Johann Martin Majer (Author) , 01.01.2016 Cham , p. 67-86 , 20 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review

View all publications

Activities

  1. "Holzbein Kiel" oder: Wie treffen Gruppen gute Entscheidungen?
    Michel Mann (Speaker) , Marco Warsitzka (Speaker) , Roman Trötschel (Speaker) , Joachim Hüffmeier (Speaker)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Education

  2. UNITED we stand: A principle-based negotiation training for collective bargaining
    Michel Mann (Speaker) , Marco Warsitzka (Speaker) , Joachim Hüffmeier (Speaker) , Roman Trötschel (Speaker)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Education

  3. How, when, and why do negotiators use reference points? A qualitative interview study with negotiation experts.
    Michel Mann (Speaker) , Marco Warsitzka (Coauthor) , Roman Trötschel (Coauthor) , Joachim Hüffmeier (Coauthor)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

  4. That is not enough–Or is it? A qualitative investigation of reference points in negotiations
    Michel Mann (Speaker) , Marco Warsitzka (Coauthor) , Roman Trötschel (Coauthor) , Joachim Hüffmeier (Coauthor)

    Activity: Guest lectures › Research

  5. Referenzpunkte in der Verhandlungspraxis: Eine qualitative Studie zur Relevanz von Referenzpunkten in verschiedenen Verhandlungskontexten und -phasen
    Michel Mann (Speaker) , Marco Warsitzka (Coauthor) , Roman Trötschel (Coauthor) , Joachim Hüffmeier (Coauthor)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

View all activities

Press / Media

  1. The Price is Right: How to Get the Best Possible Outcome in Price Negotiations
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  2. Klimaverhandlungen: Warum nachhaltige Lösungen so schwierig zu erreichen sind und wie es dennoch gelingen kann
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  3. Auf die Haltung kommt es an
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  4. Der Preis ist heiß: Wie man in Preisverhandlungen das Bestmögliche herausholt
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  5. Gemeinsam statt einsam: Nachbarn in der Corona-Krise unterstützen
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

View all press/media coverage

Prizes

Courses

Colloquium Advanced empirical research projects
Roman Trötschel
Next appointment:
Monday, 2026-05-04 at 12:15
Room: C 3.120 Seminarraum
Colloquium Bachelor Thesis
Roman Trötschel
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The Bachelor's thesis requires the students to scientifically examine a defined topic from the field of psychology and to write it up within 9 weeks, followed by an examination discussion (12 CP). Participation in a colloquium (3 CP) during the elaboration offers assistance in the development process of the Bachelor thesis.
Next appointment:
Monday, 2026-04-27 at 12:15
Room: C 3.120 Seminarraum
Internship Psychology
Roman Trötschel
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Internships provide students majoring in psychology with practical experience and help students gain insights into the ins and outs of working in the field. Although internships for psychology major vary depending on the work area and the employer, there are some elements that all students across positions share: students can gain professional skills that are difficult to learn in a classroom setting, and they are given opportunities to horn the knowledge learned at the university in internships. Importantly, these experiences allow students to see what takes place behind the scenes, which helps to smooth the transition from university work to a professional role. Internships provide students with references based on which they could deliberate which area they want to spend their careers in. Given this, in this seminar, we will discuss students’ experiences of their internships (e.g., whether did they do their internship? Why did they choose this internship? What was the motivation? What did they expect from the internship? What were the activities/tasks accomplished in the internship) and their reflections on their internships. Specifically, based on students’ internship experiences, we will discuss the transfer from theory to practice (e.g., was the knowledge gained from studies of psychology relevant during the internship? Did the knowledge help the students to understand or facilitate certain aspects of the internship? Did the knowledge open up intriguing perspectives or even enable students to put interesting suggestions into practice?) and the fulfillment of their expectations (e.g., did the internship meet students’ expectations? What did they learn and take with them? Did the internship influence their choice of career?). In the first meeting, we will discuss the administrative issues of the seminar, including course schedule and structure, expectations from and on students. In the second meeting, we organize a practice forum to discuss students’ experience of their internships, their feedback, and insights regarding the theory-practice transfer
Next appointment:
Wednesday, 2026-07-01 at 09:15
Room: C 40.501 Seminarraum
Social psychology Group B
Roman Trötschel
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This lecture offers an introduction to the field of Social Psychology. During class, prominent theoretical approaches, social psychological research methods, and major findings from classic and contemporary empirical studies will be reviewed and discussed. Some of the topics covered in this lecture include: social cognition (e.g., automatic and controlled thinking), social perception (e.g., nonverbal communication and causal attribution), self and identity (e.g., self-esteem, personal and social identity), attitudes and attitude change (e.g., bases of attitudes, persuasion), group processes (e.g., conformity, group decisions), prosocial behavior (e.g., altruism, bystander intervention), aggression (e.g., different forms of aggression and violence, e.g., school yard violence, genocide, violence in the media), and stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination (e.g., implicit prejudices, intergroup contact). Theories and empirical findings will be illustrated with real-life examples, critically evaluated, and applied to pressing social problems.
Next appointment:
Monday, 2026-04-27 at 10:15
Room: C 11.320 Seminarraum