Influence of Third Party Expertise on Disputants' Reactions to Mediation

Abstract

When people cannot resolve their conflicts, they often turn to a third party, called a mediator, for help. What guides disputants' choice of mediators is the present focus. Two kinds of mediator's expertise were compared, which might affect disputants' judgment of mediators and their recommendations—process expertise and content expertise. The mediator's particular content expertise about the details of the dispute appeared to be irrelevant if the mediator was considered to be an expert in the process of conflict resolution. When mediators were seen as process experts, disputants viewed them as more credible and were more favorably disposed toward engaging their services. These judgments extended to the mediators' recommendations. Those recommendations offered by process expert mediators were viewed as higher quality and were judged more favorably. When the mediator was perceived as lacking process expertise, disputants' perceptions of how well the mediator understood the particular details of the dispute increased their evaluations of the mediator and the mediator's recommendation.