Abstract

Despite the frequency and adverse effects of conflict, randomized controlled studies on interventions that could promote conflict resolution (e.g., among romantic couples) are scarce. One understudied intervention technique is mediation, which is a negotiation facilitated by a neutral third party. To test the impact of a mediator on couple conflict, we conducted a randomized controlled study involving 38 romantic couples who discussed a topic of recurrent disagreement either in the presence of a mediator or by means of a direct negotiation. The results show that romantic couples in the mediation condition, compared with those in direct negotiation, had a probability of reaching an agreement 1.39 times higher and reported higher satisfaction regarding the content and process of their discussions. In addition, the synchronicity of the couple’s skin conductance, a measure of arousal, correlated with the couple’s closeness and with the quality of their relationship. Our findings suggest that interventions based on mediation can have a beneficial impact on conflict resolution.

Details

Title
Improved conflict resolution in romantic couples in mediation compared to negotiation
Author
Bogacz François 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Pun Thierry 2 ; Klimecki, Olga M 3 

1  University of Geneva, Swiss Centre for Affective Sciences, Geneva, Switzerland (GRID:grid.8591.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2322 4988); University of Geneva, Battelle Campus, Computer Vision and Multimedia Laboratory, Carouge, Switzerland (GRID:grid.8591.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2322 4988); Melbourne Business School, Carlton, Australia (GRID:grid.1008.9) (ISNI:0000 0001 2179 088X) 
2  University of Geneva, Swiss Centre for Affective Sciences, Geneva, Switzerland (GRID:grid.8591.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2322 4988); University of Geneva, Battelle Campus, Computer Vision and Multimedia Laboratory, Carouge, Switzerland (GRID:grid.8591.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2322 4988) 
3  University of Geneva, Swiss Centre for Affective Sciences, Geneva, Switzerland (GRID:grid.8591.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2322 4988); University of Geneva, Laboratory for the Study of Emotion Elicitation and Expression, Department of Psychology, Geneva, Switzerland (GRID:grid.8591.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2322 4988); University of Geneva, Laboratory for Behavioral Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, Geneva, Switzerland (GRID:grid.8591.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2322 4988); Technische Universität Dresden, Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Dresden, Germany (GRID:grid.4488.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2111 7257) 
Publication year
2020
Publication date
Dec 2020
Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
e-ISSN
2662-9992
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-00622-8
ProQuest document ID
2471491290
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.