Conceptualising Bias in Construction Dispute Negotiation

Abstract

Biased decisions prohibit effective construction dispute negotiation. Cogent dispute management should aim to remove biases from dispute decisions. This study contributes to the body of knowledge of dispute management by offering constructs of biases in construction dispute negotiation (CDN). Instead of obtaining self-reflection of biased behaviours by disputants, this study employed three sets of data: (i) self-reflection of disputants; (ii) self-realization of disputants in a dispute negotiation simulation; and (iii) observations of dispute resolution third party neutrals to improve the robustness of the conceptualisation. Accordingly, four major types of biases in CDN were identified: preconception, self-affirmation, optimism and interest-oriented. This study also proposed three groups of bias minimizing measures: (i) strategy-based; (ii) attitude-based; and (iii) process-based approach.