Alternative Dispute Resolution
Mar. 15, 2013
How the 'optimism bias' colors our thinking in mediation
Studies show that people have a tendency to overestimate the likelihood of positive events while discounting the possibility of negative events.
Robert S. Mann
Neutral, ADR Services, Inc.
Email: rmann@adrservices.com
Robert mediates and arbitrates business, real estate and construction disputes.
NPR had a terrific story the other day on the findings of Tali Sharot, a University College London neuroscientist who studies the way in which individuals assess their own personal risk in relation to known risk in the general population. I was particularly interested because this sounds a lot like the way litigants in a particular case assess their case-related risk in relation to the more generalized risk that all litigants face. Professor Sharot was asked to explain why, in a recent s...
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