Group conflict: concept, essence of the issue, who is to blame and what to do

Conflicts are natural conditions in various areas of human life. There is no one who has never been in conflict. Moreover, conflict can occur both within an individual and between a group and an individual. Conflict reflects opposition, contradiction or disagreement of two or more opinions. An individual’s behavior in a conflict often depends on the norms accepted in society and his upbringing. Everything will be discussed with examples.

What are personality conflicts?

Conflicts can arise within the individual. Thus, a personality conflict is the contradiction of his desires, opinions, goals or emotional states in a certain situation. Contradictions within a person can arise at various levels. Often you have to choose between “should” and “want”.

Many people view conflicts negatively. Moreover, experts from the online magazine psytheater.com argue that conflicts within an individual are just as destructive as disputes in the outside world. Depending on how a person treats his internal contradictions and begins to resolve them, he will become more developed or create a problem that will lower his self-esteem.

Conflicts are normal between desires, needs, morals and social principles. All that remains is to be more productive in the process of eliminating them. You should understand the reasons for their occurrence, be decisive in drawing conclusions, and not be afraid of the consequences.

Do you want to be a person who is believed and trusted? Then there is no need to contradict yourself. The fact is that trust in any individual disappears when there is some discrepancy between his views on life and what he does. For example, if you are outraged by the fact that someone behaves like a child, and then you yourself begin to turn to your loved one’s parents for help when you have a quarrel, then are you not a child yourself? Are you outraged that someone else does the same thing you do? How can you listen to your opinion if you contradict yourself?

There is no need to condemn what is in you. This is the first rule to follow if you want to become a successful self-made person. If you don’t like something about another person, first ask yourself: “Am I doing the same things?” Quite often a person is indignant about what is inherent in himself. But he doesn’t want to admit his shortcomings, but he is happy to see the same flaws in those around him. So see your weaknesses first so you can change them and become better (rather than waste your time judging other people).

If you want to be respected or perceived in a certain way, you must not only demand it, but also present yourself in a way that evokes certain reactions. For example, if you want to be taken seriously, then stop dressing sexy (tight short skirts and transparent blouses). Match your appearance and behavior to the image that you want others to see in you. Be who you want to be in your appearance, in your clothes, in your demeanor, in your words, and in your outlook on the world. Let your appearance match the image you want to be like. Let your actions, words and outlook convey this image. Be a complete person who does not contradict yourself.

Be a successful self-made person. Clearly define the ideal that you want to be like (and depending on your choice, people will treat you in one way or another). Then spend all your energy so that your appearance, character, outlook on life, flaws and advantages correspond to your chosen image, otherwise you may get an unpredictable result when people treat you differently than you would like.

You may be surprised to realize that often men and women are not looking for what they declare. For example, a woman may be looking for a rich man, but end up falling in love with a simple worker. How did this happen? Psychologists would answer that a person often contradicts himself when choosing a loved one for partners, because he does not know himself, his desires and needs, and he simply deceives himself.

Example. He is looking for a decent woman (decent, that is, modest, are often helpless and dependent), she can become one only when she finds a rear in her man (that is, becomes dependent on him). At the same time, he does not want to solve her life problems and provide for her.

He is looking for a self-sufficient woman (who makes her own decisions, knows how to lead, etc.), while he himself does not want to obey his partner.

Who does he need? A self-sufficient and decent woman who will not depend on him and control him. But such a woman should be indifferent to a man, then she will not have any benefit in what he gives/does not give her and what he does in general.

• He is looking for a decent woman, but he himself talks about sex.
• He is looking for an open one, but he himself does not tell her everything.
• He is looking for a kind one, but at the same time he makes sarcastic jokes.
• He is looking for a self-sufficient and giving (economic) woman, but he himself is stingy and greedy.
• He is looking for something positive, but he himself complains about his troubles and the behavior of other people.

In other words, a man is looking for something that he himself does not give to a woman. He is looking for a woman who does not want to be with him (but will go out with other men).

Conclusion. Men often don’t understand that they want to suffer from the women they are looking for. Women often fall in love with those with whom they will later suffer, wanting to change them. And what they are looking for in each other, most often they themselves cannot give to their partners or their actions contradict these manifestations.

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Personal behavior in conflict

A person’s behavior in a conflict situation depends on the following factors:

1. It depends on how important the subject of the dispute is to him.
2. From the relationship he has with his opponent.
3. From internal resources that he is ready to direct to confrontation.
4. From beliefs and upbringing.

Accordingly, the following types of behavior in conflict are distinguished:

• Rivalry is when a person is fixated only on achieving his own benefit. There are no compromises or concessions here. A person wants to insist on his opinion and is ready to throw all his available resources at it. If an opponent adheres to a similar position, then the conflict often lasts for a very long time, sometimes never being resolved. Here pressure can be used to break the opponent until he gives up.
• Cooperation is the most productive strategy, but it is very difficult because both parties must forget about personal gain and consider the issue from different perspectives in order to make concessions and reach a compromise.
• Compromise is a strategy of cooperation. Here opponents make mutual concessions, partly giving up their benefits. Sometimes this can be a useful service. However, often each party remains dissatisfied because its needs were not fully satisfied. People who want to maintain good relations with each other make compromises. However, often after the conflict is resolved, there is an unpleasant aftertaste due to the fact that one had to give up one’s benefits.
• Accommodation is a strategy in which an individual completely abandons his opinion and agrees that his opponent is right. This usually happens if the opponent is an authoritative person, knows how to manipulate and persuade, the person wants to save resources for the next fight, is afraid of losing a good attitude towards himself, is weak or depends on the other party. In such a situation, the individual gradually abandons his opinion, completely accepting the opposite position.
• Evasion - when a person tries to evade a conversation or answers to open questions. This usually happens when an individual has been involved in a conflict, has no interest in the subject of the dispute, or simply wants to hide something.

During the conflict process, various techniques and techniques can be used. First, opponents actively argue, prove that they are right, and then begin to display one of the behavior patterns.

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Conflict between personality and group

Each individual becomes part of some group. An elementary example is the family, which already becomes a community in which the individual must get along. Often the desires and goals of an individual contradict or are not consistent with the general attitudes of the whole group. This is where the conflict arises.

Usually a person joins a group in order to use it for his own purposes. For example, an individual begins to make friends with those people from whom he receives respect. A person gets a job to get money. On the one hand, the individual uses the group to receive its benefits. On the other hand, the individual must study and comply with all the rules, laws, norms and orders adopted in this group. The more established and categorical these rules are, the more they must be followed.

Of course, a person sometimes tries to break the rules of the group in which he is, especially if he does not completely agree with them or they at some point became inconvenient or disturbing to him. Here the group reacts clearly negatively. At first, a person may be forgiven by the group, especially if he is not entirely familiar with its rules. However, if an individual systematically violates the rules accepted in a particular group, then he will be removed from it.

Conflict between an individual and a group can lead to both positive and negative outcomes. If a group is aimed at development and strengthening, then it will allow some freedom to its individual members if their actions contribute to the development of the group. If a group has existed for a long time, its rules do not change, the community itself is large, then, most likely, any attempts by an individual to influence and change something will be met negatively. Either a person integrates into the group and accepts its ways, or he is kicked out.

Many factors influence how the conflict between an individual and a group will unfold. For example:

1. Group cohesion.
2. Social status of the individual.
3. Resources available to each party.

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Stages of conflict resolution

To successfully resolve a controversial issue, you need to break down the problem and then eliminate it.

• Diagnostics. At this stage, groups develop their demands, choose a strategy that they will follow in order to achieve a win for the opposing side.
• Discussion. Collective bargaining between two opposing groups helps to better understand the views of the opponents. Groups put forward their demands and bring opponents up to date. After all the circumstances have been clarified, a decision can be made.
• Conflict resolution. Who is to blame and what to do is decided in the first two stages of a controversial situation. The third stage is finding a compromise or the complete victory of one of the opposing sides.

Patterns of personality behavior in conflict

Depending on the motives and attitudes of the individual, the following models of behavior in conflict are distinguished:

• Constructive – when an individual directs all his efforts to eliminate and resolve the conflict. How this will happen is another question. But the main thing is the goal, where the person wants to eliminate the conflict and improve relationships with people.
• Destructive – when an individual does not solve, but aggravates the problem. He manipulates, insults, humiliates, causes additional pain and commits actions that further escalate the situation.
• Conformist - when an individual does not try to argue, but takes the opponent’s side, which eliminates the conflict. In such a situation, an individual quickly puts an end to a dispute with another person if he really doesn’t care how it ends, who wins and whose side will be occupied.

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Conflict management

The science of conflictology resolves all issues related to controversial situations that arise in various groups. To solve any problem, you need a desire to make contact. For this purpose, each group has its own leader. A responsible person expresses the interests of his fellow humans. If all members of the group participate in resolving the conflict, a bazaar will result. Therefore, the problem will be resolved by two people or a small group of representatives of each team. Adjustment comes through discussion. The opposing sides express their opinions regarding the resolution of the conflict. As a result, the controversial situation is resolved according to one of two scenarios:

• a clear winner emerges;
• there is a compromise.