The Decision-Making Process of Men in Mediation - Research Paper Example

The effect of peer opinions on the decision-making of a party in mediation Introduction The aim of this research is to find out just how the opinionsof peers affect the decision making process of man in mediation. One of the things that distinguish man from the other species is his ability to make rational decisions. Man is considered the only specie with free will. His cognitive skills enable him to make necessary decisions on his own. The life of man can be summed up as a “collection of decisions.” (Osai Boateng, 2009) It seems in everything man does, be it from what to wear everyday to where to go for tertiary education, there is a need to call on that free will and choose between the available options. Man is also a social being. Because he belongs to the civilized society, man is expected to interact with his fellow human beings and form a variety of relationships like friendship. When man is required to make decisions, he may or may not solicit his friends’ opinions. “…in making decisions, people often consider all relevant information...” (Goodell, 2009) For man, a rational and social being, friends are important and so are their opinions which usually form part of man’s consideration. Since it is not a perfect world, man may have altercations with others. These can be trivial ones and/or serious fights. Whatever the dispute is, some form of mediation comes into play. In mediation, a neutral third party works with the people involved to resolve their dispute. (Kline, n.d.) “Unlike a judge or arbitrator, a mediator has no decision-making authority…[he] acts to facilitate the parties reaching their own solutions.” (Mediation v. Litigation, page 1) In mediation, the decision-making authority rests with the parties. (The Mediation Process, page 1) Thus, it is very important for the parties to take note of every variable before reaching an agreement. As mentioned earlier, being a social being as well as a rational one, it is common nature for man to hold his peers’ opinions as one of those variables. These people, who are not actually sitting around the table, can have a deep effect on mediation. (Rosenthal, 2009) One wonders just how strong a man is influenced by his peers’ opinions. Already, the strength of peer influence has been recognized and researched as evidenced by the studies done on peer mediation. In one article, researchers shared the results of their project “designed to investigate the effectiveness of a school-wide conflict resolution curriculum and peer mediation program.” (Daunic, et. al., 2000) The research was done in three middle schools. Although it yielded favorable results, it is important to note that studying only three middle schools may limit the investigation to those schools’ culture. As everyone knows, depending on its location & population, the schools’ students and conflicts may vary and thus a school-wide conflict resolution curriculum in one school may not be applicable for the next one. Still, the so-called effectiveness of peer mediation is evidenced by peer mediation programs set up in schools which, although most claims are unsubstantiated and based on spoken reviews, have brought some degree of positive influence in, among others, resolving student conflicts. (Cohen, 2005) One research studied the effectiveness of peer-mediation on the development of specific teaching strategies on some undergraduate inexperienced teachers. The study was done in the hopes of finding instructional procedures that boost student performance. Results from the study indicate “substantial and immediate effect.” (Morgan, Whorton & Willets, 2000) Another study done on peers in mediation compared peers against parents over adolescents’ playing of antisocial video games. The research was done to know how adolescents perceived peer attitudes, their own attitudes, and adolescents’ aggression. Results showed that peer mediation was more favored and better predicted adolescents’ aggression than parental mediation. (Dalessandro, A. & Chory-Assad, R,. n.d.) Yet another study was done to evaluate the effectiveness of peer mediation in a low-SES elementary school. Results were once again successful, indicating that “students in these rural setting performed mediations with similar effectiveness to those in urban and suburban settings, which have been subjects for much previous research in this area.” (Bell, et. al., 2000) From these studies, we can infer that peers may have a big influence on man’s behavior and that peer mediation is more favored among the youth. In all the above-mentioned studies, peers were the mediators themselves. They had a responsibility in settling of the conflict at hand. However, they all fail to mention any importance of peer influence outside mediation. There is a lack of research on this kind of peer influence. The author of this paper believes that research should also be done on this, seeing how big an influence peers have when they are part of the mediation. The knowledge we can acquire from knowing how decision-making is affected by a peer’s opinion may help mediators better understand the parties’ decisions. This may, in turn, help the mediators lead the parties to a better resolution. Imagine this scenario - an individual driver is accompanied by 2 friends and gets into an accident, hitting someone else’s car. Now the person whose car the individual hits is demanding $1000 for damages. In deciding whose fault it is, the passengers may support the driver’s opinion, oppose it or be neutral. What will the passenger decide to do? In paying damages, just how much will he be willing to pay? The individual driver may be willing to pay 0 dollars if he gets positive opinions from his/her friends who are supporting him. In the case where the individual driver gets neutral opinions from his/her friend, he/she may be willing to perhaps meet half way and pay $500 worth of damages rather than the price which is demanded. And in the condition where the individual driver is told that his/her friends are against him and have negative opinion towards his/her stance, the individual may be willing to compromise the most and pay $800 for the damage. There are countless of everyday situations where friends’ opinions affect the decision-making of man. These circumstances may be as trivial as what clothes to wear for a party or life-changing like what university to go to after high school. In a conflict, peers are usually the first group a man goes to for support before his own family. It is more likely, then, that these friends’ opinions were mulled over when forming his decision as to the solution for the conflict. Since peer mediation has been said to be effective especially in schools and because there is a lack of study on how peers’ opinions influence decision-making prior to resolution, this study will try to find out just how, in mediation, the decision-making of students who quarrel in school is affected by their peers’ opinions. It is hypothesized that: 1) The opinions of friends on the decision of a student in a school conflict will affect the time taken to reach a solution/agreement. 2) The effect of opinions of friends on the decision of a student in a school conflict will vary depending on the gender of the concerned student. 3) The opinions of friends on the decision of a student in a school conflict will affect the level of concession the concerned student is willing to make. Method Participants 50 male and 50 female high school students, each accompanied by 2 friends, will be randomly invited to participate in the study. The students will be limited to those aged 15-17 years old. It is the writer’s opinion that students at this age level were just breaking away from their puberty stage and wanting to be recognized as young adults. As so, they didn’t easily accept influences from their parents but turned more to their friends, thinking they were understood better by the latter. The group will be divided according to gender to know if the influences vary between male and female students. Each participant will be asked to bring 2 friends. It is going to be suggested that they choose a friend who they’ve known for more than a year and another friend they’ve known for less than a year. Materials 2 sets of questionnaires (A & B) regarding school conflicts will be prepared. Both will contain 3 conflicts and a suggested solution from the teacher/mediator. However, in Set B, each scenario will also have 3 boxes to show each of the conditions controlling the friends’ opinions. Design This will be an experimental study to know the effects of peers’ opinions, given outside mediation, on the decision-making of Student #1 in school conflicts with a teacher as the mediator. Independent Variables (IV) that will be controlled are the peers’ opinions. These opinions will be given under 3 conditions. Condition #1 is where the disputant is being told that his friends have positive opinions and think they are right. Condition #2 is where the disputant is being told that his friends have a neutral opinion. Condition #3 is where the disputant is being told that his friends have a negative opinion and think they are wrong. The following Dependent Variables (DV) to be measured are the 1) time taken based on opinions to reach a solution/agreement as a whole, 2) time taken based on opinions to reach a solution/agreement for male and for female students, and 3) the level of concession the student is willing to make. Procedure Male and female participants will be led to separate rooms. Each will be assigned to a seat and given the Set A questionnaire. They should read the scenarios, consider the given solutions carefully and reach a decision. The time of completion will be noted. In another room, the friends will be briefed on the experiment. For the Set B questionnaire, they are instructed to be positive for Scenario #1, be neutral in Scenario #2 and be negative for Scenario # 3. At the end of Set A, each pair of friends will join the participants. Set B questionnaires will be given for the participants to answer. The friends will be instructed to share their opinions. Time taken to finish Set B will be noted. After Set B is completed, the study will be explained to the participants. Participants and friends will be paid for their time. To answer Hypothesis #1, the time all participants finished Set A will be compared with the time they completed Set B. For Hypothesis #2, the time male participants finished Set B will be compared with that of the female participants for Set B. As for Hypothesis # 3, the level of concession of all participants in Set A will be contrasted with their level of concession for Set B. Appendix References Bell, S. et. al., (2000) The Effectiveness of Peer Mediation In A Low-SES Rural Elementary School. Psychology in the Schools. 31(6). Retrieved on June 10, 2009 from http://www.cruinstitute.org/doc/pdf_memphis_k8.pdf Cohen, R. (2005). Students Resolving Conflict. Arizona: Good Year Books. Dalessandro, A. M. and Chory-Assad, R. M. "Comparative Significance of Parental vs. Peer Mediation of Adolescents’ Antisocial Video Game Play" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Dresden International Congress Centre, Dresden, Germany Online . 2009-05-25 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p90242_index.html Daunic, A., et. al. (2000). School-wide Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation Programs: Experiences in Three Middle Schools. Intervention in School and Clinic, 36(2), 94-100. doi: 10.1177/105345120003600204 Goodall, E. (2009). Decision-making process is often flawed, prof. says. THEDARTMOUTH.COM NEWS. Retrieved on June 9, 2009 from http://thedartmouth.com/2009/05/26/news/decisions Kline, D. (n.d.). How to Get What You Need in Mediation. eHow. How To Do Just About Everything. Retrieved June 10, 2009, from http://www.ehow.com/ how_2118229_what-need-mediation.html Mediation v. Litigation. (n.d.) A Lawyer’s Guide to Mediation. Retrieved on June 11, 2009 from http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/civil/pdfs/ lawyersguidetomediation.pdf Morgan, R.,Whorton, J., & Willets, J. (2000). Use of Peer-Mediation To Develop Instructional Behavior In Pre-Service Teachers. College Student Journal. Retrieved on June 11, 2009 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/ is_1_34/ai_62839412/ Osei Boateng, A. (2009, April 27). Making the Right Decisions in Life. Retrieved on June 9, 2009, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Making-the-Right-Decisions-in-Life&id=2273874 Rosenthal, J. (April 23, 2009). We are all made of sound. Message posted to http://joyrosenthallaw.blogspot.com/ The Mediation Process. (n.d.). Retrieved on June 11, 2009 from http://www.jud6.org/ ContactInformation/AlternativeDispute/MediationProcessFamilySP308.pdf Read More