Building trust with parties: Are mediators overdoing it?

Abstract

Trust is a key factor in the dynamics of any attempt to settle a conflict. A mediator may be the needed link between the parties, as long as they trust their mediator. But how far should mediators go to win parties' trust? On the basis of questionnaires filled out by participants in employer‐employee mediation, we arrive at a conclusion that differs from the prevailing wisdom. There is a threshold point rather than a linear relationship between the level of trust in the mediator and the degree of conflict resolution. Once the threshold has been reached, additional trust does not necessarily result in a higher level of conflict resolution. Possible explanations are set out and practical implications are discussed.

Friendly Persuasion in Civil Case Mediations

“…In the opening meeting and throughout the mediation, the mediators, as advocated by Hoglund and Svensson (2008), made statements to establish their legitimacy and that of the mediation. Th ese legitimizing statements were comparable to those for rapport building (Goldberg 2005) and trust building (Stimec and Poitras 2009) but were more assertive. Th e statements indicated that the mediator was competent, in charge, and would be eff ective in the mediation.…”

Gender and Job Role Congruence: A Field Study of Trust in Labor Mediators

“…First, a previous study has shown that parties' role and mediation outcome have an impact on trust (Stimec and Poitras 2009). Thus, the position of the disputant (employer or employee) was also included in the event that one position was systematically less trusting of mediation than the other position.…”

Antécédents et efficacité des stratégies de médiation de conflits : le cas des présidents de Commissions mixtes paritaires en France

“…La réussite d'une médiation ne peut, en effet, être limitée à la seule rédaction d'un accord (Henderson, 1996). Aborder la médiation comme un processus en plusieurs phases (Stimec et Poitras, 2009) peut également apparaître pertinent. En effet, la dynamique de l'atteinte d'un accord et le modèle de médiation transformationnelle (Bush et Floger, 2005;Lewis et Umbreit, 2015) ouvrent des perspectives de recherches intéressantes dans lesquelles l'intégration des émotions et leur régulation pourront être prises en compte.…”