As part of a qualitative survey carried out in early 2023, a massive increase in the medians' conflict willingness to escalate is cited. Before the pandemic, escalation levels 1-3 according to Friedrich Glasl's definition were the focus of mediation, but the circumstances of the pandemic led to an aggravation of the conflicts and made conflict resolution more difficult: levels 6-8 usually account for 80% of the requests affected. With the end of the pandemic, escalation levels have remained high and are only slowly declining to lower levels.
The quantitative analysis also reflects this picture, albeit not in this drastic representation. An increase in the last 3 stages (lose-lose) is attested from 2.82% to 6.95% between 2019 and 2021, while the simple cases of stage 1 are reduced by 2/3 from 9. A development that is reinforced in a special count of mediators with separation/divorce mediation[1]: In 2019, 48.72% were still in the first 3 stages (win-win), so it is 2021 only 37.5%, the cases in the last 3 stages (loos-loos) are doubling. The statements are not sufficiently significant due to the small number in the sample (n1=40).
The pandemic led to an intensification of the level of escalation, although this varies greatly depending on the topic being looked after. Post-pandemic levels remain higher than pre-pandemic levels but are slowly weakening. It is currently not possible to say whether the willingness to escalate will return to a level before 2020.
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