Crooked Conflicts: The Effects of Conflict Asymmetry in Mediation

Abstract

Our main research question is how will the asymmetry of conflict between two parties involved in mediation affect the outcomes of the mediation? Conflict asymmetry is the difference in perceptions of conflict among the parties; that is, one person experiences high levels of conflict whereas the other person perceives that there is little or no conflict. In this multimethod study of 54 individuals involved in matched‐pair mediations in an organizational setting, we examine the effects of conflict asymmetry on satisfaction with the process and results of the mediation, as well as their recommendation of mediation to others. We find that when the two people involved in mediation have asymmetrical conflict perceptions, there is less satisfaction with the result and the process and this is partly owing to their view of the mediator being biased. In addition, we find that the person who experienced more conflict is more likely to recommend mediation as a successful process to coworkers. The results of this study should be taken cautiously and replicated in future studies because our real‐life data has limitations. Therefore, the main contribution of this paper is that it provides a theoretical perspective for studying conflict asymmetry in mediations.

The Directness and Oppositional Intensity of Conflict Expression

“…Research on conflict asymmetry shows that people within the same work team can perceive different levels of conflict (Jehn, Rispens, & Thatcher, 2010;Jehn, Rupert, Nauta, van den Bossch, 2010). Research on conflict asymmetry shows that people within the same work team can perceive different levels of conflict (Jehn, Rispens, & Thatcher, 2010;Jehn, Rupert, Nauta, van den Bossch, 2010).…”

Angry at your boss: Who cares? Anger recognition and mediation effectiveness

“…Consequently, it seems appropriate for mediators to spend more time, energy, and effort to the most frustrated or angered party and to let them vent their emotions. By doing so, the other party may feel unfairly treated because of receiving less attention (Jehn, Rupert, Nauta, & Van Den Bossche, 2010). One way to deal with this is to implement a caucus in the mediation or to use a pre-caucus before the joint face-to-face sessions so that parties can freely express their (negative) emotions without the presence of the other party.…”

Peacemaking at the Workplace: A Systematic Review

“…First, the definition seems narrower than the situation of this construct would imply. For example, in asymmetric conflicts where one person experiences high levels of conflict yet the other perceives little or even no conflict (Jehn, Rupert, Nauta, & Van Den Bossche, 2010), the behaviors described above would not apply. Instead, actions such as trying to give emotional support to only one side of the conflicting parties could save both from a potential fight.…”