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 asymmetric..