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You are biased but I'm not: Bias perception, the spiral of conflict, and the role of the mediator

The word "Truth" etched in the pieces of this sculpture on Canyon Road in Santa Fe

If we disagree with someone, we typically view the other person as more influenced by bias than are we. That perception of bias can be a monumental obstacle to conflict resolution. But what to do about perception bias? In their chapter "Bias Perception and the Spiral of Conflict," in Ideology, Psychology, and Law, Kathleen Kennedy and Emily Pronin suggest three methods of increasing success in conflict resolution and lessening the influence of this conflict spiral. All three are briefly summarized in this blog post at Law and Mind.

Of course, the one that most caught my attention was that related to self-awareness, a common theme around this blog and Brains on Purpose.

2. Introspective education – This strategy works to induce individuals to see themselves as less objective.  By recognizing their own capacity for bias, individuals might be better equipped to resolve their conflicts peacefully once they realize that the other side, while biased, is no more biased than oneself and, therefore, likely has some rational reasons for believing what they believe.  A mediator can implement this strategy by educating individuals on the psychology of implicit biases and providing them with concrete demonstrations of their own implicit attitudes (by administering the IAT [different link], for example).

The Implicit Association Test IAT has come under a lot of criticism (see, e.g., this article) and I would not recommend it as a method of increasing awareness of bias. However, increasing the self-awareness of parties to a dispute can be very helpful. The role of the mediator in educating parties about concepts such as bias perception and other components of self-awareness (i.e., how their brains and minds operate in conflict) is not agreed upon among mediators. Many think that kind of education is outside the purview of the conflict professional. What do you think?

What's the role of playfulness in creativity?

An important topic: play. Fortunately it is receiving serious attention these days. For example, Current Biology has devoted an edition to it. An excerpt from the article "Playfuness and creativity":

Having fun is a good reason to be playful. The pleasure it generates could be seen as its primary benefit. Even so, I want to explore what can be the longer-term benefits of playfulness. For the biologist, benefits are measured in terms of the particular ways in which an activity increases the chances of survival and enhances reproductive success. Most people would not worry too much if their playfulness affected their chances of survival and would probably not be at all concerned about its impact on their reproductive success. Many would, however, be interested in the particular long-term outcomes of their playfulness that eventually lead to those matters that concern biologists. I shall argue that one such outcome is their creativity.

Click to read the rest.

Recommended new book on the topic: The Interpersonal Neurobiology of Play: Brain-Building Interventions for Emotional Well-Being.

Reminiscing this holiday season? Here are some benefits of nostalgia

Thanksgiving in Manassas, Virginia

This season often brings with it memories fond to hard, and glad to sad. Did you know that nostalgia is a focus of much research? And that it has many benefits? Enjoy or at least value those thoughts of the past; they are not a waste of time. From "Holiday nostalgia: Why it's good to relive memories" (Eureka Times-Standard):

While nostalgia may involve looking backward, "metaphorically speaking, it is a torch to light the road ahead," [Tim] Wildschut says. "It entails information about what matters in life, what is valuable, what is meaningful."

Wildschut has co-authored an article on nostalgia for Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. The abstract from "To Nostalgize: Mixing Memory with Affect and Desire":

Nostalgia is a self-conscious, bittersweet but predominantly positive and fundamentally social emotion. It arises from fond memories mixed with yearning about one's child- hood, close relationships, or atypically positive events, and it entails a redemption trajectory. It is triggered by a variety of external stimuli or internal states, is prevalent, is universal, and is experienced across ages. Nostalgia serves a self-oriented function (by raising self-positivity and facilitating perceptions of a positive future), an existential function (by increasing perceptions of life as meaningful), and a sociality function (by increasing social connectedness, reinforcing socially oriented action tendencies, and promoting prosocial behavior). These functions are independent of the positive affect that nostalgia may incite. Also, nostalgia-elicited sociality often mediates the self-positivity and existential functions. In addition, nostalgia maintains psychological and physiological homeostasis along the following regulatory cycle: (i) Noxious stimuli, as general as avoidance motivation and as specific as self-threat (negative performance feedback), existential threat (meaninglessness, mortality awareness), social threat (loneliness, social exclusion), well-being threat (stress, boredom), or, perhaps surprisingly, physical coldness intensify felt nostalgia; (ii) in turn, nostalgia (measured or manipulated) alleviates the impact of threat by curtailing the influence of avoidance motivation on approach motivation, buttressing the self from threat, limiting defensive responding to meaninglessness, assuaging existential anxiety, repairing interpersonal isolation, diminishing the blow of stress, relieving boredom through meaning reestablishment, or producing the sensation of physical warmth. Nostalgia has a checkered history, but is now rehabilitated as an adaptive psychological resource.

The journal article probably contains all you would want to know about nostalgia—and possibly much more. Have you been experiencing any nostalgia this season? Did you know that simple activity of thought and feeling has been the subject of so much research? Beginning today, Winter Solstice, I plan to conduct my own small, informal experiment: watching when I find myself nostalgic and observing my responses. Join me?

Sister profession news: "New requirement for Class of 2018 is part of national trend toward a more balanced medical education experience"

Press release from University of Buffalo:

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Since Hippocrates, medical practice has been seen as both science and art. In the 21 century, amid ever-greater scientific advances, medical schools are working to maintain balance between the two, developing new ways to highlight the art of medicine.

On Dec. 5, first-year medical students at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences will participate in a new requirement: attending the First Year Humanities Day.

UB medical students will hear about and discuss medicine as depicted in poetry, music and drawing; they will even be able to participate as artists themselves, drawing a nude model in one of the sessions as they learn to correlate findings from gross anatomy in a living body. Other topics include discussing health care in terms of cost, cultural attitudes and ethics.

“UB, along with other medical schools nationwide, understands that just as we require our students to develop scientific expertise, they also need to develop expertise in the art of practicing medicine,” says Michael Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences at UB and dean of the medical school.

“Our students must learn to appreciate and understand not just clinical symptoms but the individual who is experiencing them,” he says. “The medical school’s new humanities requirement is one way to achieve this goal.”

The half-day event, sponsored by the UB medical school’s Center for Medical Humanities, includes a broad range of workshops and lectures that use the arts, humanities, ethics and social sciences to teach the art of medicine and techniques of observation, analysis and self-reflection.

Members of the media are welcome to attend: for more information, contact Ellen Goldbaum, [email protected] and 716-645-4605.

Titles and speakers are:  

Click to read the rest.

How'd this lawyer get to be a terrific negotiator? By using an unusual practice

Anyone who has sincerely tried to improve in some area of personal or professional life probably understands the value of feedback. But what this lawyer did to get feedback is rare and perhaps surprising. From Sherwood Park News:

How do you get better? How do you become world-class? There are only two ways, with no shortcuts: deliberate practice (which we will look into next week) and reflective practice, explains law professor Gerald Williams.

Professor Williams recounts a story. He and his team were researching world-class negotiators. Most attorneys fell into the run-of-the-mill “good enough” category. The researchers were blown away, however, in watching the seemingly effortless skill of one lawyer who repeatedly and summarily crushed his opponents and helped his clients achieve their goals.

Eager to learn the secrets of his success, Professor Williams’ team debriefed the negotiator. The lawyer was truly non-plussed; he didn’t know how he had become so good at what he did. Williams pressed. Surely he was being coached?

“No, not unless you mean this?” was the reply, as the lawyer humbly reached behind to his credenza to pull out a binder.

Williams’ jaw dropped, it was something he had never seen. At the conclusion of every negotiation the attorney had ever done, he had asked the other side for feedback on his performance (this is rarely done in legal circles), had analyzed it, and then acted on it to improve.

What do you think? Know anyone who seeks feedback so bravely? Perhaps he would not consider himself brave but many of us would, yes?

Want a life free of stress? Let's hope not!

Is stress bad for you? Not all of it. In fact, a life without stress would be neither healthy nor enjoyable. You do NOT want to wake up to days that are stress-free. Your clients don't want that for you either. With the right stress, you are a better lawyer or mediator. From an article in the Stanford alumni magazine:

In her lectures and classes, [Dr. Kelly] McGonigal used to teach people how to reduce or cope with stress, as if it were something to be avoided and dreaded. But in light of this research, she's changed her tune. She no longer focuses on training people to relax, breathe and calm down in the face of stress. Instead, she encourages them to harness the stress: "Rather than trying to slow your pounding heart, why couldn't you view it as your body giving you energy?" she says.

After all, even if you could live in a stress-free bubble, you'd probably have to excise all the things that imbue your existence with happiness and meaning—like relationships, challenging work, learning and growth. "In a way," McGonigal concludes, "stress is a kind of engagement with life."

Read all of "What, Me Worry?" to learn why you may want to invite stress into your personal and professional life. For more tips on good stress, McGonigal has a book coming out in the spring: The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It.

Interested in mediation or collaborative law in trust and estates and other related family matters?

I call to your attention two no-fee teleseminars being offered this month by the Purposeful Planning Institute; one or both might be worth your time. Take a look below for all the information. If you want to join either call, get your complimentary PIN number.

The first, presented by John O'Grady on November 11, is titled "Navigate Epic Aging & Inheritance Conflicts to Build Your Practice." The session is described:

Drama, trauma, greed, and crisis at end of life present angst and opportunity.   In fact, these are the elements of a Greek tragedy in which power, control, sibling rivalry, patriarchal privilege, and other thorny issues threaten to tear families apart.  The inheritance battles escalate as the older adult loses mental capacity.  Growing a thriving collaborative trusts & estates practice in service to these conflicted families is a way to make a profound and lasting impact at a critical time.  Transforming regret, repression, and depression into full self-expression – especially when it is messy -- is cause for celebration.   During this training, Estate Planning Lawyer and Mediator of Estate Battles John O’Grady equips you to begin to navigate the epic conflicts about death, taxes, and inheritance so those you serve can address the underlying conflicts, salvage important relationships, and welcome a measure of inner peace, love, and understanding.

“In most cases, the conflict is not about who inherits the dining room table.  It’s about the issues under the table that are just now seeing the light of day.”

 More here.

The second teleseminar I call to your attention is "The Collaborative Practice Revolution in Trusts & Estates," to be given on November 25. I had the opportunity to speak with Peter Johnson, one of the presenters, in August at this year's PPI Rendezvous. Our time in conversation was stimulating and the bonus for me was learning

Apologies for the hiatus in blogging

I have not been active here due to a death in my family. And I will be back soon.

Yoga for Lawyers: Who are the lawyers who wrote the book?

A new book on yoga written for lawyers has been published by the American Bar Association. The coauthors are lawyers from New Mexico.

Hallie Love's Web site includes this description of the book:

Written by lawyers Hallie Love and Nathalie Martin, Yoga for Lawyers - Mind-Body Techniques to Feel Better All the Time, published by the American Bar Association 2014,  is a gentle introductory approach grounded in scientific studies, scholarly research, and clear instructions. Proven to relieve stress, energize, and improve sleep, the featured easy-to-learn and easy-to-do meditative techniques and therapeutic yoga stretches can change your life in just minutes every day.

With photos detailing the exercises and written descriptions of how and why to do them, Yoga for Lawyers offers techniques that can help you improve your law practice by sharpening your ability to concentrate and bettering your overall state of mind and well being.

Nathalie Martin is a prof at University of New Mexico's law school. An article about her and the book was published yesterday in Albuquerque Business First. From "UNM professor: Lawyers could use yoga for knotty problems":

Pointing to studies that show lawyers are twice as likely as others to be alcoholics and three times more likely to suffer a heart attack, a professor from the University of New Mexico School of Law has helped write a book advocating yoga to help.

Nathalie Martin, the Frederick M. Hart Chair in Consumer and Clinical Law, co-authored “Yoga for Lawyers: Mind-Body Techniques to Feel Better All the Time” with Hallie Love. Love, who is a yoga teacher, also has more than a decade of experience as a practicing lawyer.

And from Professor Martin's UNM Web page:

Professor Martin's passions include three long-term life goals: first, helping small businesses get started in New Mexico, and thus improving the State's overall economy; second, helping consumers avoid the many traps and pitfalls created by the current consumer credit world; and third, helping lawyers maintain balance in their lives.

She routinely advises law students on managing stress while practice law in a healthy and productive way, and invites students to visit her personal wellness page.

Link to that wellness page.

Here's a link to my page (contemplativelawyers.com) with articles and resources related to lawyers, meditation, and mindfulness. With so much attention now being given to these topics, it is hard to keep the page updated! Let me know if you see other links I should add.

Some days I wish I were still living in New Mexico . . .

Can drawing improve lawyering and mediation skills? Art is helping some members of the medical profession

Although this article uses the neuromythology of right brain/left brain, and is focusing on the medical profession, it nevertheless includes some observations that could prove useful for lawyers and other conflict practitioners. From an article in Philadelphia's The Inquirer "Restoring left-brain activities to medical school" (a title that is puzzling as it does not fit the article even if one uses the neuromyth of the brain being divided in function):

Medical education is in a crisis. According to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine, half of 4,287 students surveyed at seven medical schools experienced burnout and 10 percent expressed suicidal ideation. And doctors aren't much better off; a second study in JAMA Internal Medicine of 7,288 physicians showed that almost half had experienced some symptom of burnout.

The public image of doctors hasn't fared well, either. While the popular notion of doctors was once the wise and avuncular Marcus Welby, M.D., more recent portrayals tend toward Dr. Gregory House, a brilliant but annoying know-it-all with a decided God complex.

Salvatore Mangione, an associate professor at Thomas Jefferson University, thinks he knows why. In talks and papers, he has investigated how medical education veered off course and how it can be reinvigorated. ...
...

"We've heard [anecdotally from students] that the [drawing] class was almost like Zen therapy," says Mangione. "The students felt that this helped them see things differently and to feel differently."

Click to read about some efforts to bring a different way of seeing into the profession. Would some of these practices be helpful for law students? Lawyers? If so, how might similar measures be used with law students? Lawyers? Where are aligned practices already being used by law students? Lawyers?