Choice Bracketing: Determinants and Mechanisms

Choice bracketing refers to whether an individual considers choices separately (narrow choice bracketing) or together (broad choice bracketing). This manuscript investigates two key questions that have been under investigated in the choice bracketing literature. The first is “what prompts people to bracket choices broadly?”. The second question is “by what mechanism does choice bracketing affect decision making?”. The results of two experiments indicate that association between choices can prompt people to bracket broadly, and that non-computational mechanisms likely underly choice bracketing effects on risk-taking. These results are used to advocate for a view of choice bracketing that positions it as a key decision making process that helps people structure decision problems and respond to situational needs.