{"id":289,"date":"2013-04-11T18:30:07","date_gmt":"2013-04-12T01:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elizabethbader.com\/elizabethbadersblog\/?p=289"},"modified":"2021-01-31T10:35:26","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T18:35:26","slug":"the-idr-cycle-in-mediation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elizabethbader.com\/elizabethbadersblog\/the-idr-cycle-in-mediation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Psychology of Mediation: The IDR Cycle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"313189_108436902596596_1707583335_n\"<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>In her writings<\/a>, Elizabeth has identified the IDR cycle —\u00a0 a core psychological dynamic\u00a0during the negotiation and mediation of civil litigation and many other disputes.<\/p>\n

The IDR cycle is the psychological cycle of\u00a0ego- inflation (\u201cI\u201d), ego-deflation\u00a0 (\u201cD\u201d) and, if the dispute settles, realistic resolution (R\u201d) typically experienced by the parties.<\/p>\n

EGO-INFLATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

As they arrive at the negotiation table and prepare to deal with the other side, parties begin to experience the psychological equivalent of the “fight response.”<\/p>\n

This is characterized by (1)\u00a0 overconfidence about the result to be achieved\u00a0and (2) a bolstering of an inflated sense of self (ego-inflation) in readiness to fight.<\/p>\n

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Parties\u2019 initial overconfidence in mediation and negotiation has been well documented.\u00a0 It has been called \u201cone of the most robust findings in the social sciences in recent decades.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>[1]<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> Russell Korobkin, Psychological Impediments<\/em> to Mediation Success: Theory and Practice<\/em>, 21 Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol. 281, 284 \u00a0(2006).<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0EGO-D<\/strong>EFLATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0As contact with the other party intensifies, each\u00a0party\u00a0learns that\u00a0his\/her\u00a0unrealistic expectations may not be met.
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\u00a0The \u00a0result is a sense of\u00a0 ego-deflation or disappointment, and less certainty about the result that is acheivable in the situation.\u00a0\u00a0 This may manifest as anger and outrage.\u00a0 With each offer or counteroffer, there\u00a0is\u00a0 a sense of\u00a0 injury to the self, a loss of \u201cface.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0The mediator\u2019s job is to help the parties to move through the deflation and maintain a focus on objective thinking.<\/p>\n

Often, however, impasse cannot be avoided.<\/p>\n

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Impasse\u00a0occurs when each party realizes\u00a0 the requirements they have set for the behavior of the other person are not going to be met.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0REALISTIC RESOLUTION<\/strong><\/p>\n

In order to move to realistic resolution,\u00a0 the parties\u00a0 have to come to terms with the needs and interests of the other parties. Ideally, they develop a sense of self-and-other not just a sense of their own needs in isolation.
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During this phase, the parties\u00a0have to\u00a0 release the connection which exists in their minds between their sense of self and the outcome of the negotiation.\u00a0The mediator\u00a0 helps them evaluate their options, and encourages\u00a0 communication about how they can construct a deal.<\/p>\n

Ideally,\u00a0 they emerge from the realistic resolution phase with a deal.<\/p>\n

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