Presentation

Organizer:

Date:

January 20, 2022

Time:

07:00 PM – 08:30 PM

Fee:

Free

Location:

University of Aruba, Room A

Between a rock and a hard place: Challenges, strategies and resolution of value conflict mediation

Interpersonal conflict is an inevitable part of human interaction. On a nearly daily basis, people are bound to face others who pursue contradictory goals or hold opposing viewpoints, which can eventually lead to conflict. Conflict management literature has primarily investigated traditional mediation strategies typically aimed at resolving resource conflicts. Recently, however, researchers have increasingly explored a particularly challenging type of conflict: value conflicts (i.e., conflicts about intangible issues such as beliefs or principles). Over the course of four chapters—using both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies—the studies presented in this dissertation expand our understanding of the development, escalation and resolution of value-based disputes. The findings show that, despite being faced with conflicts that have repeatedly been termed difficult, if not impossible to resolve, mediators are currently approaching value conflicts with the intention to reach sustainable resolutions. In doing so, however, mediators should be aware of techniques that—while beneficial when intervening in resource conflicts—may prove unsuccessful when employed in value conflicts. Specifically, threatening litigation may be best framed as a loss of control of the outcome versus incurring increased costs, as the former may motivate intransigent parties to continue the mediation session while the latter may decrease avoidance behavior. Moreover, mediators who may strategically employ displays of anger, should only consider this if they hold a position of power and prioritize the resolution of the dispute above the disputants’ evaluation of the mediator and the mediation process. By reporting on the current state of the practice of mediating value conflicts as well as by empirically investigating findings first observed in the field, this dissertation can help in expanding the mediator’s strategies to better intervene in these intractable disputes.

Dr. Rosabelle Illes

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