POWER AND MEDIATION

We recognize that mediation and negotiation are most effective when the parties are of approximately equal power. An initial strategy of community activists, for example, is to equalize power before negotiating.

However, there is one aspect of power imbalance that is not typically recognized. Research by neuroscientists Jeremy Hogeveen and his colleagues in 2014 demonstrated that the belief that one has power changes the way the brain operates.

Hogeveen focused on the mirror system region of the brain, which contains neurons that become active both when we do an action, such as squeeze a rubber ball, and when we watch someone else do that same action. Furthermore, we may also begin to empathize with what motivates another person’s actions.

The research examined whether giving a person a feeling of power or powerlessness would change how the mirror system responds to someone else performing a simple action.

Consider this example from the study: Participants wrote a diary entry either about a time they depended on others for help or about a time they were in charge. The researchers then measured the way the participants’ mirror systems responded to someone else performing a simple action. Those feeling powerless had more empathy than those feeling powerful. This study demonstrates that believing one has power diminishes all varieties of empathy.

It’s dangerous, of course, to extend this study across the board, but with that caution the research strongly suggests that the more powerful person in a mediation or negotiation has diminished empathy for the less powerful party. Without an empathetic understanding of the other party’s circumstances, the more powerful one may not be willing to work cooperatively to develop outcomes that meet the needs of the less powerful.

Impartiality is a mediation ethical standard. In mediations between parties with an extreme power imbalance, some mediators are reluctant to work to balance the perception of power. Other mediators will withdraw from conducting a mediation if they feel the less powerful person is not able to function in their best interest. This research, however, suggests another course of action, that is to attempt to encourage the more powerful participant to better understand the situation of the less powerful person. Nonetheless, feeling one has greater power may make one somewhat insensitive to the needs of the less powerful party.