IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jocore/v35y1991i4p594-610.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

General Alignment and Overt Support in Biased Mediation

Author

Listed:
  • Jerry M. Wittmer
  • Peter Carnevale
  • Michael E. Walker

    (University of Illinois)

Abstract

This experiment examined the influence of mediators' interests and outcome recommendations on disputants' perceptions and behavior. A distinction (following Pruitt, 1983) was made between two types of mediator bias: general alignment and overt support. In the general alignment variable, participants dealt with a mediator who was aligned either: (a) with them - mediator outcomes were positively correlated with their own, or (b) against them - mediator outcomes were negatively correlated with their own. In the overt support variable, participants were confronted with a mediator who made outcome recommendations that were overtly favorable, even handed, or unfavorable. The results indicate that disputants mistrusted favorable recommendations from unfavorably aligned mediators; this “Trojan horse effect†also led to lower ratings of mediator acceptability. The results suggest that favorable mediator alignment may cushion the impact of overt, unfavorable recommendations from that mediator. Broader theoretical and organizational implications are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Jerry M. Wittmer & Peter Carnevale & Michael E. Walker, 1991. "General Alignment and Overt Support in Biased Mediation," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 35(4), pages 594-610, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:35:y:1991:i:4:p:594-610
    DOI: 10.1177/0022002791035004002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022002791035004002
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0022002791035004002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carnevale, Peter J. D. & Conlon, Donald E., 1988. "Time pressure and strategic choice in mediation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 111-133, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gelfand, Michele J. & Christakopoulou, Sophia, 1999. "Culture and Negotiator Cognition: Judgment Accuracy and Negotiation Processes in Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures, , , ," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 248-269, September.
    2. James A. Wall Jr. & Ann Lynn, 1993. "Mediation," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 37(1), pages 160-194, March.
    3. Ting Zhang & Francesca Gino & Michael I. Norton, 2017. "The Surprising Effectiveness of Hostile Mediators," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(6), pages 1972-1992, June.
    4. Okhuysen, Gerardo A. & Galinsky, Adam D. & Uptigrove, Tamara A., 2003. "Saving the worst for last: The effect of time horizon on the efficiency of negotiating benefits and burdens," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 269-279, July.
    5. Peter J. Carnevale, 2008. "Positive affect and decision frame in negotiation," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 51-63, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:35:y:1991:i:4:p:594-610. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://pss.la.psu.edu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.