ACORNS OF THE RESOLVER ‘Are there identifiable characteristic traits within the leading UK mediators and is there a correlation between these characteristics and their position as the pioneers of ADR?

Abstract

Despite the extensive literature regarding mediation, there remains very little empirical and objective research that gives regard to the characteristics of the Mediator as a neutral third party to a dispute. There is a substantial body of work that discusses the merits of mediation and the skills required to be a good or successful mediator. There are observational studies carried out on a small number of mediations mostly carried out by mediators who tend to see their role through a rather tinted world view. These neutrals hold a very peculiar position within the theatre of law, they have no definable regulatory body, no prerequisite for academic qualification and yet the majority of the work is carried out by a small number of individuals who by and large have been the ‘leaders in the field’ since they brought mediation to the forefront of dispute resolving as a protocol of the procedural rules. Utilising both self-reflection and psychometric models, 50 of the UKs leading commercial mediators submitted to a series of evaluative surveys to establish whether they had defining characteristics outside of the norm. Using the five factor model of personality (FFM) measured through the workplace test ‘ORPHEUS’, the subject group of 32 males and 18 females, were tested to establish whether there were any statistically significant traits. Across the five major and seven minor domains it was found that as a group the commercial mediators scored significantly lower than the mean along the major scale of Conformity, suggesting higher than average Creativity. The females group scored significantly lower across the domain in comparison to the males group. Within the minor trait scales, the group scored significantly higher than the mean across; Work Orientation, Fair-Mindedness and Initiative. However, the role is dominated by white, male lawyers of sixty-one years of age. They are Christian and have at a minimum undergraduate qualification in law, they will practice commercial mediation on a full-time basis and be accredited by at least one accrediting body, most notably CEDR. On average they will have practiced mediation for 20 years and carry out in excess of fifty-five mediations per year. They are mildly introverted creative types with higher than average initiative with a strong work ethic and a fair-minded approach.