Neuro-nonsense abounds in what people are saying about the brain in conflict and how to harness the brain for dispute resolution. I understand the quest for easy answers and simple steps, but the brain is too complex to be reduced to cookbook clarity.
The most we can say is, "We have these clues, and those clues may indicate that doing _____ [insert recommended behavior] might be helpful sometimes for people in dispute." That's it! That is the level at which conflict professionals can benefit from brain science. If you hear any greater degree of certainty about how the brain behaves, be very wary. We are not yet (and may never be) at the place where we can make statements about the brain that are easily, simply, quickly, and predictably useful in conflict resolution.
Knowing the clues we have about the brain can be helpful, but that knowledge probably will only leave you in awe of the brain's complexity and of how much we still have to learn. For example, we know that a person who is acting from his reactive brain is different from one who is operating from a more reflective brain state. Can we say exactly where reactivity and reflectiveness reside in the brain? And exactly how to move from one to the other? No.
We can work with clients to recognize the difference, knowing that difference may vary from person to person. And from situation to situation. And from day to day.
If you are interested in the brain and what we know about how it operates, then I highly, highly, highly recommend that you read
[W]e can look for the brain to offer up innovative results that make us rethink our assumptions and offer new hypotheses to explore [emphasis added], whether we work in the neurosciences, in psychology, or in anthropology. [Or conflict resolution.]
Be careful. There's much silliness out there.
I like the sensible nature of the blog. Now I've been interested in attribution psychology for some time - self-serving bias, fundamental attribution error, etc - but have grown cautious because of studies that show less clear results than once seemed the case. But I'm no expert. Any thoughts?
Posted by: Daryl Landau | February 07, 2012 at 03:13 PM
Hi, Daryl. Thank for saying the blog is sensible. I like that. I think any of the attributions can be good clues as long as we know they are not universal and also situational. Also, the more self-aware a person is, the less likely he or she is to fall into any attribution errors. What do you think?
Posted by: StephanieWestAllen | February 07, 2012 at 07:05 PM