Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

One of the underlying assumptions about ADR is that the parties experience greater satisfaction with ADR processes that offer greater control over the process and the outcome. The authors tested this theory in a small study of student subjects who played all the roles in a number of simulated disputes that were resolved through negotiation, mediation, arbitration, med-arb and peer review. The authors suggest how the results of this limited study, which confirm the relevance of control to satisfaction with ADR, can be used in ADR design.

Alternative dispute resolution continues to be used in a diversity of settings—the management of health care, consumer, commercial business, international, construction, labor and employment disputes. It is also used in the judicial system in court-annexed ADR programs. Compared to litigation, ADR processes are less adversarial, faster and more efficient, relatively lower in cost, and private.1 These advantages over litigation are well-documented.

Many supporters of ADR believe that people are more satisfied with a dispute resolution process in which they have greater control over both the process and the outcome.2 Control of the process means that disputing parties exercise influence over the details of the process, including the rules and procedures that will be used. Control of the outcome means that they have the opportunity to choose a jointly agreed-upon solution and cannot be forced into a settlement.

This paper is concerned only with the ADR processes listed in Table 1. They give the parties varying degrees of control over the process and the outcome. Negotiation allows the most control. However, because the parties have so much latitude when they negotiate, sometimes the weaker negotiator feels victimized at some later point. When the parties are represented in negotiations, they retain control of the process and outcome, but they also have the assistance of an attorney or another person, which may prevent them from agreeing to terms that they may eventually regret.