LET ME “SLEEP ON IT”
Recently, LiveScience.com published an article entitled “Why ‘Sleeping On It’ Helps” by John M. Grohol, PSYD. The thesis of the article is that “the brain makes good unconscious decisions when we let it” (p. 2).
According to Dr. Grohol:
“Previous research suggests that sometimes the more consciously we think about a decision, the worse the decision made. Sometimes what’s needed is a period of unconscious thought – equivalent to “sleeping on it” . . . in order to make better decisions” (p. 1).
To study this phenomenon, researchers conducted experiments. The results led them to believe that unconscious thought is actually an “active, goal-directed thought process.” But unlike conscious thought, the usual biases are absent, so that we weigh the different components more equally; our preconceptions are not considered by our unconscious. That is, “unconscious thinkers seem to be better at using appropriate information to arrive at” (p.2) their decision:
“The researcher hypothesize that conscious thought can lead to poor weighting in decision-making – the more you think about something, the more your biases interfere with good decision-making” (p. 2).
A moment’s reflection will reveal how this relates to mediation. “Sleeping on it” is actually counter-intuitive to the mediation process. Typically, the parties attend mediation with the goal of settling or resolving the dispute at the mediation so that the final part of the session is spent drafting and signing the settlement agreement.
Many parties and mediators are uncomfortable with the prospect of a party walking out of a mediation and taking the final offer home “to sleep on it”. They fear that if a party walks out of a mediation to “mull” it over, the matter will not settle.
This research though indicates that “sleeping on it” is not such a bad idea: to the contrary, it may be rather productive. A person’s unconscious is the better decision maker and thus a person will make a good decision, unconsciously. That decision most likely will be one that is much more rational, much less biased and much less dependent on preconceived notions than one made consciously at a mediation.
So, counter-intuitively, perhaps it is not a bad thing to let someone walk out of a mediation with an offer in hand “to sleep on it”. Chances are, the matter will settle once the unconscious decision-maker takes over!
. . .Just something to think about.
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