PSYCHOLOGICAL AND COMMUNICATIVE ASPECTS OF MEDIATION ACTIVITY

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a theoretical study of the psychological and communicative aspects of mediation activity as an alternative method of conflict resolution. The aim of the article is to construct an integrative model of the psychological components of mediation activity and to reveal the mechanisms of their interaction that ensure effective conflict resolution. Four interrelated components of mediation were identified through theoretical modeling: communicative, emotional, cognitive, and integrative. The communicative component encompasses active listening, reframing, open questions, and process structuring, ensuring dialogue facilitation and creation of a safe communicative space. The emotional component includes emotional validation, regulation, empathy development, and emotion transformation, contributing to tension reduction and creation of an atmosphere of psychological safety. The cognitive component involves conflict deconstruction, cognitive reframing, focus on interests, generation of alternatives, and development of critical thinking for rational situation analysis. The integrative component synthesizes the previous components through restoration of power balance, relationships, compromise formation, and participant transformation. The systemic nature of interconnections between the components was identified: communicative components create the foundation for emotional ones, emotional components are prerequisites for cognitive ones, and integrative components synthesize all previous ones into a holistic transformational process. The universal character of the identified components is emphasized, taking into account the specifics of their implementation depending on the type of conflict and cultural context. The research results can be used for developing mediator training programs, improving mediation practice, and further empirical studies of the effectiveness of individual psychological components in different types of conflicts.