Originally from:

AAA Handbook on Mediation - Third Edition

THE IMPACT OF HUMOR ON MEDIATION

Kevin W. Cruthirds*

I. Introduction
Mediation has become a commonly accepted form of alternative dispute resolution. It involves the use of a neutral third-party mediator to help the parties to a dispute reach a mutually satisfactory resolution.  The institutionalization of mediation in the private sector began with the passage of the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947.  During its infancy, what made a good mediator was unknown to academia and the general public. Julius Manson described a mediator’s professional equipment as consisting of “subtle, formless personal elements whose identification has baffled social scientists” and went on to identify 25 desirable qualities in a mediator, which he allocated to five categories: character, intellectual, emotional, social, and technical (see Table 1). 
Eileen Carroll and Karl Mackie  later came up with some similar desirable qualities, like credibility, humility, diplomacy, intellectual rigor, integrity, patience, persistence and energy. Since then, other than experience  and training, little has been added to the list of a mediator’s important “professional equipment.”  However, there is a tool available to mediators that may facilitate their work: humor.