Mediation as an aid to face saving in negotiation

Abstract

Employed 96 undergraduates in an investigation of the conditions under which mediation is most effective in producing concessions. Results show that the suggestion by a mediator of a point of settlement halfway between the positions of 2 negotiators produced substantial concessions. Concessions were also produced by high, as opposed to low, time pressures; and there were more concessions when the other negotiator had moved rapidly toward agreement than when he had moved slowly. Intervention by a mediator was found to relieve the sense of personal weakness that otherwise inheres in making concessions, especially when the negotiator was experiencing high conflict about whether to make a conces..