The Cognitive Characteristics of Mediator's Decision Making

Abstract

Cognitive processes are key for understanding experts’ challenges and decisions. The prevailing stylistic dichotomy in mediation might conceal the diverse factors behind mediators’ decisions. Going beyond the dichotomy, we systematically examined the explicit and implicit challenges of mediators’ schema, the tensions emerging when a mediators’ schema meets a complex reality, and the ways mediators choose to handle their perceived challenges. To analyze these dimensions we focused on the work of eight mediators out of twenty-two mostly highly experienced mediators who came to our lab. All mediated the same simulated conflict enacted by two female disputants. All sessions were observed, videotaped and then assessed through multiple measures from 3 viewpoints: the mediators, the disputants, and three independent observers. A special effort was made to capture the cognitive aspects of the mediators and compare them with their behaviors. In the dynamic mediation interaction, mediators often reacted unconsciously and intuitively. Consistent with mediation research, mediators’ explicitly presented themselves as stylistically eclectic but most were observed behaving with little stylistic and behavioral flexibility. Mediators’ implicit schema varied from simple to complex. Two universal mechanisms of coping with the stresses of the mediation role were identified--flexibility and reflection. Greater cognitive and behavioral flexibility and reflective capacity were detected in mediators with a complex schema, and they seem to relate to higher competency and better intervention quality than those with simple schema.