This research had me smiling about both real and fantasy-realm possibilities. How about you? What do you think? Could the narrative collective-assimilation hypothesis be used in mediation?
Abstract of "Becoming a Vampire Without Being Bitten: The Narrative Collective-Assimilation Hypothesis" (Psychological Science):
We propose the narrative collective-assimilation hypothesis—that experiencing a narrative leads one to psychologically become a part of the collective described within the narrative. In a test of this hypothesis, participants read passages from either a book about wizards (from the Harry Potter series) or a book about vampires (from the Twilight series). Both implicit and explicit measures revealed that participants who read about wizards psychologically became wizards, whereas those who read about vampires psychologically became vampires. The results also suggested that narrative collective assimilation is psychologically meaningful and relates to the basic human need for connection. Specifically, the tendency to fulfill belongingness needs through group affiliation moderated the extent to which narrative collective assimilation occurred, and narrative collective assimilation led to increases in life satisfaction and positive mood, two primary outcomes of belonging. The implications for the importance of narratives, the need to belong to groups, and social surrogacy are discussed.
Excerpt:
Continue reading "Become a wizard? Become a vampire? Become a collaborative disputant?" »
What if your mediation clients had an accurate assessment of their abilities, were able to acknowledge their mistakes, had a lower self-focus (with focus on self often taking a backseat), did not have over-active self-talk, kept their place in the world in perspective, and appreciated others? The items I just listed are some indicators of hypo-egoic states. A mediation between people in hypo-egoic states might be fairly easy to facilitate, don't you think?
"Hypo-Egoic States: Personal and Interpersonal Consequences of Attentuated Self-Attention, Image Concerns, and Ego-Involvement" was the title of one of the symposia I attended at this year's Association for Psychological Science annual conference. This one was presented by Drs. Mark Leary, June Price Tangney, Jennifer Crocker, and Kirk Warren Brown.
The four presentations in the symposium were on humility, self-esteem, mindfulness, and a model of hypo-egoic processes. The theory and research behind each topic were intellectually intriguing, and the possible practical applications
Although this white paper is about business meetings, much of it also would apply to conflict resolution sessions. From the Executive Summary of the white paper "The Future of Meetings: The Case for Face-to-Face" (found on the Web site of the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research):
With the advent of virtual-meeting technology, the issue of how to format group meetings and events has become remarkably complex. Meetings can be completely virtual, completely face-to-face, or a hybrid of the two. Leading companies are using all three formats. The challenge for meeting planners is to decide which format is most effective for important business outcomes. Rather than rely on personal preferences or currently popular approaches, the decision regarding meeting type is a strategic one that should rest on specific, scientific criteria. This paper examines those science-based decision criteria to help executives determine when face-to-face is the most effective approach to large-group meetings or events. This decision is important because face-to-face meetings require the greatest investment of all meeting types, and thus carry the greatest expectations for a strong return on investment. Face-to-face is most likely to be the best approach in the following three business situations:
(1) To capture attention, particularly when you want to initiate something new or different;
(2) To inspire a positive emotional climate, as a way to catalyze collaboration, innovation, and performance; and
(3) To build human networks and relationships, realizing that information can increasingly be shared virtually whereas the greater value is in people networks and relationships.
You download the white paper at the above link. For another summary of it, read Why Invest in Face-to-Face Meetings? Look to Neuroscience" (Corporate Meetings & Incentives). Excerpt:
For links to all the info about next April's ABA ADR event and the Call for Proposals, click over to ADR Prof Blog. The Annual Conference will be held in Denver on April 13-16, and the proposals are due August 30. Conference tracks include one on "Communication, Neuroscience, and Psychology." For those of you with expertise in those arenas (or any others in the list of 14 tracks), you may want to apply to present [pdf]. (I don't know if neuroscience has been a subtrack at past conferences; I would guess that it has?)
Help me solve a mystery, please. What is that pink and tan building in the foreground of the banner above? In all my years of living in Denver, I don't think I have seen that structure.
Note: Thanks to a friend who knows Denver better than I, the mystery is solved. That building is the boathouse at City Park.
We are most easily manipulated when we are in our day-to-day daze, sleepwalking through life. The level of awareness, and degree of somnambulism, of each person in the conflict room can be affected by a mediator who is awake and mindful. Think of the conflict professional as a human alarm clock, not typically jarring, but nevertheless influential and noticeable. The awake and mindful professional's presence revives and alerts. And she has no snooze button.
Whether or not the mindfulness of the mediator can affect the conflict resolution process is a matter of debate. If you read this blog, you know that I think the mediator's mindfulness has impact. There is a continuum along which this debate roams and sometimes rages.
On one end of the continuum are those who think the self-awareness and mindfulness of the mediator is paramount to his competence. On the other end are those who say the proper application of techniques is the critical ingredient. I lean much more to the first-described end of the continuum, but acknowledge some skills, some practices, are needed.
Why do I think mindfulness is important? Many reasons, but perhaps the most important
