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Language and Dialogue: Online-First Articles

Conflict resolution in online mental health support groups

The role of empathy and informal mediation

| University of Barcelona

The literature on online mental health support groups usually stresses the harmonious side of users’ interactions. However, differences regarding the experience of the illness might escalate into social conflict. The aim of this study is to explore acts of conflict resolution in an online Spanish mental health forum for recovery from an eating disorder (ED). Focusing on a specific long dispute between one regular contributor and several other members, I perform a micro-analysis of the discursive moves deployed in this polylogue by those who act as informal mediators to mitigate negative emotions, to rephrase participants’ perspectives and to promote relational empathy within the group. The goal of mediation in the forum is to reinstate the social order of acceptable recovery practices and discourses.

Keywords: online forums, emotional support, empathy, conflict, informal mediation, eating disorders, recovery
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background
    • 2.1Conflict in online environments
    • 2.2Mediation and empathy
  • 3.Materials and methods
    • 3.1Corpus
    • 3.2Procedure and analysis
    • 3.3Ethics
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 June 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00171.fig
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