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Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1998

Keywords

Peer mediation; Conflict management; College students

Abstract

Mediation is a non-adversarial method of resolving conflict through the use a trained third party in a structured process. This study measured college students' perception of satisfaction/resolution of conflicts with and without the presence of a trained peer mediator. Subjects wrote "scripts" of a recent conflict in which they were involved. Subjects also completed pertinence and intensity ratings of conflict areas on a Likert-type questionnaire. Conflict areas were limited to commonly experienced issues such as broken promises, annoyance, and illegitimate demands. Using the results, thirty-two subjects were paired and assigned scenarios to role play in conflict dyads. In experimental group dyads, mediators used a conflict resolution process that explores disputants perceptions and feelings, checks for understanding, and generates solutions. The control group attempted resolution of the conflict without assistance; mediators were present as observers only. Subjects then completed a satisfaction/resolution survey. Compared to the control group, subjects in the experimental group were more satisfied with the outcome (p < 0.05). In the pertinence and intensity of conflict categories measure, a gender main effect was observed for annoyance, criticism, and feeling ignored, with women rating these as more intense.

First Page

16

Last Page

19

Primo Type

Article

Included in

Sociology Commons

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