The Mediator's Mind
Navigating Party Psychology and Behavioural Dynamics in Dispute Resolution
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17721251 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ali Almarri (0009-0007-2398-3918, College of Law King Faisal University Al‐Hassa Saudi Arabia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1545-1559 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-29 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Systems Research and Behavioral Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1092-7026 • E-ISSN: 1099-1743 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/sres.70053 |
| OpenAlex | W7142722111 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 48 |
Mediation increasingly requires psychological competence, as mediators regulate emotion, cognition and interaction within conflict systems. This study examines how mediators' psychological awareness and behavioural reflexivity shape conflict trajectories, advancing the concept of a behavioural architecture that transforms emotional volatility into cooperation. Using the SAMI framework and NVivo analysis of 30 qualitative interviews, the study systematically mapped mediators' internal emotion and cognitive regulatory processes across diverse mediation contexts. Three interconnected mechanisms emerged: emotional decoding, recognition as justice and disciplined empathy as neutrality. Together, they form a self‐regulating behavioural system through which mediators stabilise affect, reconstruct meaning and generate procedural fairness. Findings show that effective mediation is a behavioural form of justice grounded in cognitive–emotional balance rather than procedural neutrality alone. In culturally grounded contexts, these competencies reflect deeper ethical norms, positioning mediation as an intelligent system of relational governance
Cognition · Economic Justice · Empathy · Grounded theory · Mediation · Neutrality · Party-directed mediation · Reflexivity · Simulation theory of empathy · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Conflict Management and Negotiation · Dispute Resolution and Class Actions
Conflict Management and Mediation
The Measurement of Observer Agreement for Categorical Data
Interrater reliability
Toward good practice in thematic analysis
Legitimacy and online proceedings
It Takes Three to Tango
Navigating the emotional landscape of mediation
Professional perspectives on characteristics of legitimacy in court‐based mediation
The Mediating Alliance
Control your emotions
Redefining the neutral intermediary role
Fuelling contempt for police
Mediator Neutrality
Prior behavior and wording of norm nudge requests shape compliance and reciprocity
Does contemporary recognition theory rest on a mistake
A conceptual and ethical framework for empathy and communication technologies
Re-imagining Procedural Justice in Policing Sexual Violence
Using a Blended Approach to Thematic Analysis
Meditation in Qualitative Research for Bracketing and Beyond
Inter-Rater Reliability Methods in Qualitative Case Study Research
| Highly cited | No |
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