Different types of conflicts: essence, characteristics and classification scheme

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April 22, 2020

What it is?
What types and types of conflicts exist
Causes of conflicts
6 ways to resolve conflict situations

Hello, dear readers of the KtoNaNovenkogo.ru blog. The emergence of situations between people that are generated by hostile thoughts and actions makes many people think.

What is a conflict, what are the conditions for its origin, who can be a participant in it, and are there any methods for resolving it? We will talk about all this in the continuation of this publication. Sit back, let's get started.

What it is?

The word comes from the Latin "conflictus", meaning "collided" . The most common synonyms the word “conflict” include:

argument;
disagreement;
collision;
duel;
confrontation;
battle.

To fully understand, it is first necessary to define this social phenomenon.

So, conflict is a way of resolving contradictions that arise due to inconsistency of judgments, goals, interests, conclusions, conclusions, opinions or views on certain aspects.

This process is characterized by three main features:

The essence is the confrontation between two or more subjects.
It is accompanied by the release of negative emotions on the part of the participants, as well as actions that may go far beyond the generally accepted rules and norms of behavior.

It arises exclusively in the process of social interaction of participants with each other.

Conflict: content of the concept, structure and stages of development

Conflicts and methods of their resolution Read more: Causes and functions of conflicts

1.1 Conflict: content of the concept, structure and stages of development

Before talking about the conflict, it is necessary to reveal the content of the concept “hospitality industry”. In the dictionary-reference book “Tourism, hospitality, service” edited by Avanesov G.A. etc. the following definition of the “hospitality industry” is given - a system of modern industries, enterprises, service institutions and organizations specializing in serving people who come to a given area for a relatively short period of time for the purpose of recreation, business meetings or personal purposes. The hospitality industry includes such services and service activities as accommodation of guests, catering, transportation, recreation (recreation) and entertainment.

Since the hospitality industry involves a constant variety of forms of interaction between people, conflicts between them are inevitable.

Psychologists consider conflict as a natural condition of human interaction, which is based on contradictions, significant differences between the interests and values of the subjects of social ties on the emotional background corresponding to these differences. They argue that conflict, being a manifestation of communication between beings capable of self-awareness, means a lack of agreement, a difference of opinion, a clash of different views and desires, opposing tendencies, needs, interests, motives and styles of behavior under given circumstances.

Sociologists, who are more accustomed to highlighting social relations, are more inclined to characterize conflict, first of all, as an extreme aggravation of contradictions, clashes and confrontation caused by opposition, incompatibility of interests and positions of individuals, social groups, layers, classes, nations, states.

Lawyers usually interpret a conflict as a confrontation between subjects (bearers) of contradictions, the opposition of parties pursuing divergent or mutually exclusive goals.

Management specialists more often define conflict as a universal way of interaction between complex systems, overcoming contradictions and limitations in any area where contacts occur between individuals and their communities.

If we summarize the above about conflict and proceed from its common understanding as a clash of parties, opinions and forces, then for management science and the applied significance of conflictology, the following definition will probably be the closest and most acceptable: conflict is a normal manifestation of social connections and relationships between people , a method of interaction when incompatible views, positions and interests collide, a confrontation between two or more parties that are interconnected but pursuing their own goals.

In addition to the generally accepted concept of “conflict,” there is the concept of “organizational and managerial conflict.” An organization in a broad sense is a social system, a stable form of association of people - individuals, groups and other communities involved in certain joint activities, as well as the conditions for their interaction with each other. This is a more or less complex structural formation, which is characterized by orderliness, formalization and standardization of social connections and relationships, integration of its constituent elements and their functions.

An organizational and managerial conflict is a conflict between members of the management organization, managers and performers, the primary groups formed within them, between various divisions in a given management system regarding the goals, methods and means of management and organizational activities, as well as its results and social consequences.

To understand the conflict, it is necessary to consider its structure.

The structure of the conflict is understood as a set of stable connections of the conflict, ensuring its integrity, identity with itself, difference from other phenomena of social life, without which it cannot exist as a dynamically interconnected integral system and process:

1. Participants in the conflict are persons whose degree of participation in the conflict varies: from direct opposition to indirect influence on the course of the conflict. There are several groups of participants:

— The main participants in the conflict or opposing forces are those subjects of the conflict that directly carry out active (offensive or defensive) actions against each other. Some authors introduce such a concept as “opponent,” which translated from Latin means objector, opponent in a dispute.

— Support groups. Almost always in any conflict there are forces behind the opponents, which can be represented by individuals, groups, etc.

— Other participants. This group includes subjects who have an occasional influence on the course and results of the conflict (instigator, organizer, etc.)

2. Information models of the conflict situation among the main and secondary participants in the conflict.

3. The subject of the conflict is an objectively existing or imaginary problem underlying the conflict. This is the contradiction because of which and for the sake of the resolution of which the parties enter into confrontation.

4. The object of the conflict is considered as the cause, the reason for the conflict. The object of the conflict can be a material (resource), social (power) or spiritual (idea, norm, principle) value, which both opponents strive to possess or use. The struggle reflects the parties' desire to resolve this contradiction. During the conflict, it can fade and escalate. Contradiction behaves in the same way. However, the problem of conflict remains unchanged until the contradiction is resolved.

5. Micro and macro environment. When analyzing a conflict, it is necessary to highlight the conditions in which the participants in the conflict find themselves and act. This approach allows us to consider the conflict not as an isolated system, but as a social situation. It includes not only the immediate environment of the individual, but also the social groups of which the individual is a representative. To become the object of a conflict, an element of the material, social or spiritual sphere must be at the intersection of personal, group, public or state interests of subjects who seek control over it.

In the process of its development, the conflict goes through several stages, which are not mandatory. The duration of the stages also varies. But their sequence in any conflict is the same. Let us consider here the most generally accepted taxonomy.

Stage I - pre-conflict situation: there is an increase in tension in the relationship between potential subjects of the conflict, caused by certain contradictions. This is the state of affairs on the eve of the conflict. But contradictions do not always develop into conflict. Only those contradictions that are perceived by potential subjects of conflict as incompatible lead to an aggravation of social tension. But most often at this stage there are already some prerequisites for conflict. If tension in relationships does not result in open conflict clashes and such a clash of things persists for quite a long time, then it is called a potential or latent (hidden) conflict.

Stage II – incident: this is a formal reason, an occasion for the start of a direct clash between the parties. An incident can happen by accident, or it can be provoked by the subject (subjects) of the conflict, or be the result of the natural course of events. It happens that an incident is prepared and provoked by some “third” force, pursuing its own interests in a supposed “alien” conflict.

Stage III - open confrontation: the beginning of open confrontation between the parties is the result of conflict behavior, which is understood as actions aimed at the opposing side with the aim of capturing, holding a disputed object or forcing the opponent to abandon his goals or change them.

Depending on the conflict attitude of the parties and the form of behavior of the parties, the conflict acquires a logic of development. A developing conflict tends to create additional reasons for its deepening and expansion. And if nothing interferes with it, it begins to feed itself, as it were, creating and generating more and more new foundations for further development.

This stage is also called conflict escalation (from the Latin Scala - ladder), i.e. here the conflict, as it were, “steps along the steps”, being realized in a series of separate acts - actions and reactions of the conflicting parties.

Stage IV - Climax: This stage occurs when the escalation of the conflict leads one or both parties to actions that cause serious damage to the cause that binds them (or their family ties or friendships). Climax is the highest point of escalation. It is usually expressed in some kind of explosive episode or several consecutive episodes of conflict struggle. At its climax, the conflict reaches such an intensity that it becomes clear to both sides that it should no longer be continued. The climax directly brings the parties to the realization of the need to interrupt both the further deterioration of relations and the intensification of hostile actions and look for a way out of the conflict along some other paths.

Escalation does not necessarily end in climax. Here there is a “limit of tolerance”, when exceeded, the participants in the conflict become tired of their confrontation, and they have a desire to somehow resolve differences.

In a protracted conflict, the moment of climax does not come for a long time. In some cases, the conflict gradually fades away. But in other cases, delaying the climax is very expensive: in the process of protracted escalation, a high “energy potential” of negative emotions accumulates, which does not find release in the climax; and when at last the moment of climax comes, the release of all this energy is capable of producing the most terrifying destruction. This kind of climax is another version of an acute conflict.

Stage V - conflict resolution: at a certain stage in the development of the conflict, the opposing sides may significantly change their ideas about the capabilities of their own and the enemy. There comes a moment of reassessment of values, due to new relationships, the balance of power, awareness of the real situation - the impossibility of achieving goals or the exorbitant price of success. All this stimulates a change in tactics and strategies of conflict behavior. In this case, the conflicting parties begin to look for ways of reconciliation, and the intensity of the struggle, as a rule, subsides. From this moment the process of ending the conflict actually begins, which does not exclude new aggravations.

Stage VI - negotiations: usually one of the conditions for starting the negotiation process is a temporary truce. But options are possible when, at the stage of preliminary agreements, the parties not only do not stop fighting, but escalate the conflict, trying to strengthen their positions in the negotiations.

Negotiation methods and their results depend not only on the relations between the warring parties, but also on the internal situation of each party, relations with allies and other non-conflict factors.

Stage VII – post-conflict: the end of direct confrontation between the parties does not always mean that the conflict is completely over.

The post-conflict stage marks a new objective reality: a new balance of power, new relationships of opponents to each other and to the surrounding social environment; a new vision of existing problems and a new assessment of one’s strengths and capabilities.

Having examined the concept of “conflict”, understood its structure and studied the stages of development, it is necessary to find out its causes and functions in enterprises of the hospitality industry.

Conflicts and methods of their resolution Read more: Causes and functions of conflicts

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What types and types of conflicts exist

Depending on the method of resolution, conflicts are divided into:

Compromise . Resolution of conflict situations in this case is carried out by searching for the most suitable compromise for both parties. In this case, one or both parties must benefit from the situation in the form of compensation for moral harm/material damage. Example: for failure to meet the agreed deadlines for delivery of products, the supplier undertakes to reduce prices for its services;
Antagonistic . The confrontation is resolved by destroying the structural structures (verbal, behavioral, emotional) of the participant who lost the confrontation. The second option is the party’s refusal to further participate in the fight. Example: winning an election race.

Types of conflicts differ in the area in which they manifest themselves, degree of expression, direction, number of parties, and needs. But first things first.

Conflicts in the organization. The essence and types of conflicts.

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The word "conflict" in Latin means "clash". The purpose of the conflict is the opportunity to defend one’s opinion, to ensure that a certain point of view is taken into account. Conflict has negative features. They are as follows: 1) conflict can interfere with meeting the needs of an individual; 2) conflict can interfere with the achievement of goals of both an individual and the organization as a whole; 3) conflict is almost always accompanied by threats, hostility and misunderstanding.

Conflict also has the following positive features: 1) provides an opportunity to express one’s thoughts; 2) reveals a diversity of points of view and a greater number of alternatives or problems; 3) provides additional information.

The following types of conflicts are distinguished: In relation to an individual subject: Intrapersonal conflict. Caused by a person’s contradiction with himself. Interpersonal conflict. The most common involves two or more individuals if they perceive themselves as being in opposition to each other in terms of goals, values, or behavior.

Conflicts between the individual and the group. They are mainly due to the discrepancy between individual and group norms of behavior.

Intergroup conflicts, i.e. between groups (formal and informal), as well as between trade unions and administration.

Depending on the organizational levels: – horizontal – between individual areas of activity in the organization, between formal and informal teams, etc.; – vertical – between different levels of the hierarchy, the majority of them, about 70–80%; – mixed, containing elements like vertical and horizontal conflicts. By area of origin and development: – business, related to official human activities, with the performance of business duties; – personal, affecting informal relationships. According to the distribution of losses and gains between the parties : – symmetrical, with the results of the conflict distributed equally; – asymmetrical, when some lose or win significantly more than others. According to the degree of manifestation : – hidden, usually affecting two people who for the time being try not to show that they are in conflict. – open, under the control of management, therefore they are less dangerous for the organization. By nature : – objective, related to real problems and shortcomings that arise in the process of functioning and development of the organization, i.e., they have a business basis; – subjective are due to differences in individual assessments of certain events and relationships between people. They are always emotional and often result from the psychological incompatibility of people, their misunderstanding and unwillingness to understand each other. According to their consequences, conflicts are: – constructive, contributing to the development of the organization. However, any constructive conflict, if not overcome in a timely manner, turns into destructive; destructive, causing damage to the organization. It is important to know that the division of conflicts into types is arbitrary.

Basic methods of work of a manager to prevent conflicts.

Firstly, to prevent conflicts, it is important to create a favorable socio-psychological climate in the team.

An unfavorable psychological climate in a team often causes a decrease in labor efficiency, not to mention stress, emotional breakdowns and unconstructive behavior of employees.

An important factor that can prevent conflict is the authority of the leader. A leader must always be competent, organized, principled, honest, fair, demanding, and live for the common cause, and not for personal considerations about his prestige.

Secondly, conflict-free communication helps prevent conflicts.

To prevent conflicts, the best place to start is by establishing working relationships. One of the most successful ways to prevent conflict in a team is to have conversations with employees, which can help clarify understanding of roles, uncover fears, misunderstandings and prejudices, or improve working conditions.

It is also important to prevent conflicts not to take part in intrigues, gossip and power struggles, not to expect perfection from colleagues, because everyone makes mistakes; avoid misinformation.

One of the effective means of preventing conflicts is to prohibit them at work. The leader, as the authority figure in the team, can simply order: “Don’t quarrel!” But such an order is not always appropriate and feasible. Sometimes it is not possible to prevent interpersonal conflict. In this case, you can weaken its power using various techniques. One of them is to transfer the participants to other places, load them with work so that they have no time to conflict, etc.

Roles of a manager in a modern organization.

“Manager” in the modern sense is an employee who holds a management position and is vested with the authority to develop and make decisions (reasonable and often made using computer technology) in a specific area of the organization’s activities.

The manager performs the main management functions: ·planning, ·organization, ·motivation, ·monitoring the activities of subordinates and the organization as a whole. A manager can carry out: - management of an organization (general director, executive director) or its divisions (head of department, department, department); — development (or participation in the development) of the goals and objectives of the organization (or carry out accepted tasks); — planning and organizing work to fulfill the tasks of individual departments, program-target groups or individual employees.

Often situations require managers to be independent and responsible for decisions made. In this regard, special requirements are imposed on the manager: - he must be competent in matters of managing his own organization (or in which he works), competitor organizations, in the industry to which the organization belongs by the type and nature of its activities; — he must have not only administrative skills (the ability to master and manage a situation), but also entrepreneurship skills, show initiative and be able to redistribute the organization’s resources in the most profitable areas of application; - he must be able to agree with subordinate managers and employees on their share of participation in the performance of work; - He must be able to manage people. To carry out their activities, managers must play a number of roles. A role is a set of specific behavioral rules in a specific activity or situation.

Interpersonal roles - establishing contacts with subordinates, bosses, visitors.
Information roles are actions that allow a manager to generate information.
Decisive roles – decision-making roles, ensuring the implementation of decisions.

Advantages and disadvantages of various theories of power and leadership.

Naturalistic school.

Disadvantages: within the framework of the naturalistic approach, power is described as an “exclusively human phenomenon” that does not exist without its bearer – the “natural man” – and therefore depends on his individual characteristics as a natural being.

Pros: the individual aspect of the nature of power plays a significant role, especially in those societies where there is a crisis of power, where power is “bought and sold”, and where there are no social restrictions such as law, morality, and tradition.

Behavioral (behaviourist) approach. Disadvantages: the behavioral (behaviourist) approach to the study of power, just like the naturalistic school, moves away from studying the objective foundations of the nature of power as a social phenomenon, highlighting in a special sphere of scientific analysis the reasons primarily rooted in the natural essence of man.

Role theory of power.

The further distribution of economic and political statuses and roles in human society, based on socio-economic inequality, leads to the fact that power relations take the form of a hierarchized and strictly centralized vertical, including the likelihood of conflict and resistance between its poles and often resorting to repressive and punitive sanctions .

Relational approach.

Pros: the main advantage of this approach is the desire to emphasize the importance of specific principles, methods, methods of power coercion or influence.

This theoretical approach, presented at one time by various concepts, shows the most characteristic and frequently occurring interpretations of the nature and essence of power, based not on the objective logic of the political process itself, but mainly on its subjective component.

Thus, each form of power has its own pros and cons, which means there is no single recipe for combining these forms. It is clear that for the successful existence of an organization it is impossible to adhere to only one, specific form of power.

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Scope of conflict situations

The most common types of conflicts based on the nature of their manifestation include:

organized (a hierarchical structure is provided, the responsibilities and rights of the parties are clearly regulated);
economic (based on contradictions of an economic nature, the struggle for resources, discounts, rights, benefits);
social conflict (confrontation between individual subjects, groups or communities of people, taking into account the preliminary strengthening of their interests regarding the dispute);
political (characterized by the use of appropriate tools of struggle, which presupposes victory in the political sphere).

Types of conflicts by severity

Hidden collisions. Occurs when a demonstration of aggression and any similar actions are hidden from the public and those involved in the confrontation. The conflict is indirect.
Open clashes. The struggle is clearly expressed and can be observed and assessed. Example: controversy, controversy, discord, quarrel, scandal, showdown with insults.

Types of conflict orientation

Horizontal conflict. Disagreements arise between parties who are equal in status: social, professional, material, etc. A prerequisite is that subjects are endowed with an equal amount of power.
Vertical conflict is typical for parties that have differences in status. Example: a quarrel between a subordinate and a manager, employees of a subsidiary and parent enterprise.

LECTURE No. 17. The concept of conflict

The word “conflict” (from Latin confliktus) means a clash (of parties, opinions, forces). The causes of collisions can be a variety of problems in our lives. For example, a conflict over material resources, over values and the most important life attitudes, over power (domination problems), over status and role differences in the social structure (including emotional and psychological differences), etc. Thus , conflicts cover all spheres of people’s life, the entire set of social relations, social interaction. Conflict is essentially one of the types of social interaction, the subjects and participants of which are individuals, large and small social groups and organizations. However, conflict interaction presupposes confrontation between the parties, i.e., actions directed against each other.

The conflict is based on subjective-objective contradictions, but these two phenomena (contradictions and conflict) should not be identified. Contradictions can develop into conflict. Therefore, it is necessary to keep in mind that the basis of the conflict are only those contradictions that are caused by incompatible interests, needs and values. Such contradictions, as a rule, transform into an open struggle between the parties, into a real confrontation.

The confrontation can be more or less intense. Intensity, according to R. Dahrendorf, means the energy invested by the participants and at the same time the social importance of individual conflicts. The form of clashes - violent or non-violent - depends on many factors, including whether there are real conditions and possibilities (mechanisms) for non-violent resolution of the conflict and what goals are pursued by the subjects of the confrontation.

So the conflict

- this is an open confrontation, a collision of two or more subjects and participants in social interaction, the reasons for which are incompatible needs, interests and values.

Also in psychology, conflict is defined as “a collision of oppositely directed, mutually incompatible tendencies, a single episode in the mind, in interpersonal interactions or interpersonal relationships of individuals or groups of people, associated with negative emotional experiences.”

When people think about conflict, they most often associate it with aggression, threats, disputes, hostility, war, etc. As a result, there is an opinion that conflict is always undesirable, that it should be avoided whenever possible and resolved immediately when it will arise. This attitude is clearly visible in the works of authors belonging to the school of scientific management, the administrative school and sharing the concept of bureaucracy according to Weber. These approaches to organizational effectiveness relied heavily on defining tasks, procedures, rules, interactions among officials, and developing a rational organizational structure. It was believed that such mechanisms generally eliminate the conditions conducive to conflict and can be used to solve emerging problems.

Conflict performs a wide variety of social functions, both positive and negative. There are objective and subjective assessments of the consequences of the conflict.

For example, the reconstruction of an enterprise, which became possible as a result of an industrial (social-labor) conflict, is an objectively positive phenomenon, but from the point of view of some workers forced to leave the enterprise as a result of staff reductions, this conflict will be assessed as negative.

Let's look at some positive functions of conflict:

1) conflict reveals and resolves contradictions that arise in relations between people and thereby contributes to social development. Timely identification and resolution of conflict can prevent more serious conflicts leading to dire consequences;

2) in an open society, conflict performs the functions of stabilization and integration of intragroup and intergroup relations, reduces social tension;

3) conflict greatly increases the intensity of connections and relationships, stimulates social processes, gives dynamism to society, encourages creativity and innovation;

4) in a state of conflict, people are more clearly aware of both their own and opposing interests, and more fully identify the existence of objective problems and contradictions of social development;

5) the conflict contributes to obtaining information about the surrounding social environment, about the relationship between the power potential of competing formations;

6) external conflict promotes intra-group integration and identification, strengthens the unity of the group, nation, society, and mobilizes internal resources. It also helps to find friends and allies and identifies enemies and ill-wishers;

7) internal conflicts (in a group of organizations, societies) perform the following functions:

a) creating and maintaining a balance of power (including power);

b) social control over compliance with generally accepted norms, rules, and values;

c) creating new social norms, institutions and updating existing ones;

d) adaptation and socialization of individuals and groups;

e) group formation, establishment and maintenance of a relatively stable structure of intragroup and intergroup relations;

f) identification of informal leaders;

g) identifying the positions, interests and goals of participants, adopting a balanced solution to emerging problems.

Conflict has negative functions:

1) when it leads to disorder and instability;

2) when society is unable to ensure peace and order;

3) when the struggle is carried out using violent methods;

4) when the consequence of the conflict is large material and moral losses;

Psychology bookap

5) when there is a threat to the life and health of people.

Most emotional conflicts and, in particular, conflicts arising as a result of socio-psychological incompatibility of people can be classified as negative. Conflicts that make it difficult to make necessary decisions are also considered negative. A protracted positive conflict can also have negative consequences.

Number of conflicting parties

Intergroup . A confrontation between two groups, each of which includes participants in the conflict, united by some characteristic/signs.
Interpersonal . A clash of interests between two entities or between a group of people and one entity.
Intrapersonal . Confrontation of internal values and motives at the personal level. There are no parties, there is only one subject who is faced with the problem of choice regarding making this or that decision.

Psychology of conflict in the continuum of science and artIrina Lopatkova, 2020

The content of the conflict in the artistic image and model

In an attempt to determine the artistic essence of intrapersonal conflict, it is necessary to turn to different ways of depicting it: modeling and artistic embodiment. This is hardly possible to do unless one identifies a specific type of it: motivational, cognitive or role-based. Since the category of role is one of the basic ones not only in psychology, conflictology, sociology, but also in art, we will dwell on this type of intrapersonal conflict in more detail. To begin with, we repeat what is already known. Role conflicts are of three types: between two or more roles that are equally significant for the individual, but often contradict each other; the conflict between the requirements of the role and the subject’s capabilities for effective existence in it; conflict between requirements within one role, when some role requirements and positions are satisfactory, while others are not. The role conflict model is determined by the content of the role. But, before bringing it, it is necessary to clarify the understanding of the role not only from the standpoint of science, but also from the standpoint of art.

When defining a role as a category of art in order to more deeply study its content in order to develop effective forms of psychological work to correct intrapersonal and interpersonal role conflicts, it is necessary to turn to the meanings that actors, directors, and theater workers give to this concept. Generalizing the approaches of K. S. Stanislavsky, M. A. Chekhov, Vs. Meyerhold, A. Demidova, S. Yursky, L. Dodin, M. Zakharov and other famous Russian theater figures, we come to the conclusion that a role is defined in art as a stage image created by a playwright, director, actor and spectator (listed, of course, not all authors, since it is also not worth reducing the role of the composer, make-up artist, costume designer, and decorator). Consequently, the category “role” is considered in context and in inextricable connection with the category “image”, in particular, the artistic image. True, this connection is defined in different ways. On the one hand: the image is an idea of how you want to show yourself, and the role is a set of actions (verbal, visual, etc.) with which you create the image. The result of the role created by the actor, director and other participants in a theatrical performance, including the audience, is an artistic image. It turns out that the role is the path to creating an image. On the other hand, a role is a set of ideas of society and an individual about its content, purpose, purpose, i.e. it is a set of images. Therefore, on the contrary, the role must dynamically integrate many image-representations. It turns out that the role originates from images and also has an image as its result. Only now it is born from image-representations that arise as a result of the mental activity of its creators, caused by the reading of dramatic material, and gives rise to an artistic image, the main characteristic of which is the ability to transform reality, to awaken an aesthetic reaction (terms of L. S. Vygotsky). That is, the role is not the image itself (as a product of consciousness or as an artistic image), but an artistic space or an artistic process that contributes to the transformation of the authors’ images into an artistic image? The issue is controversial and requires further research. But let's return to this idea a little later, in the section on role structure. Now let's get back to its definitions.

The next definition is that a role is an event, a mechanism for the dynamics of a scene, a situation, a part of a whole event, as a dramatic action, a joint creative activity carried out to achieve certain spiritual, aesthetic, moral goals. Consequently, the category “role” is considered in conjunction with the categories “being” (subjective existence, since we are talking about an event) and “action”, often dramatic, i.e. requiring the manifestation of emotional, intellectual and effective activity aimed at achieving a goal and associated with strong feelings. This also suggests that everything that relates to action - motivation, direction, targeting, elementality - also relates to the role. So a role is a sequence of actions, each of which contains an experience? Not really, since this definition only complements the previous one and explains some aspects of the morphology of the role. Let us also remember that in social psychology there is the concept of a communicative role, which is interpreted as a “mobile variable system of actions” [9, p. 68], “a certain semantic unity, subordinated to the global goal of communication” [10, p. 15]. This is quite consistent with understanding the role as a whole, and not just as a means of communication.

K. S. Stanislavsky introduces the concept of “artistic roles”, which emphasizes its artistic nature and allows us to consider the role in the context of the artistic image created by all participants in the event (stage or real in this case is not so important). Just like the nature of the artistic image, the nature of the role is subject-object, i.e. the role is the embodiment of the psyche of the subjects (all its creators, but, to a greater extent, the actor and the viewer) in the object of interaction, which is understood as the entire polymer content of the presented and the perceived work, be it a performance or a real interaction situation.

The following approach is very significant in the context of psychotherapeutic and psychocorrectional tasks: a role is the possibility of simultaneous loss of a part of oneself and the acquisition of a new one, i.e., a path for positive transformation of personality in the direction of its amplification. Indeed, role theories quite actively consider the issue of an individual’s role repertoire, the fact that it should be rich and diverse enough to ensure the development of the individual, its growth, and effective socialization. In this context, we can turn to another definition of the role given by K. S. Stanislavsky - the path to the super task through struggle, contrasts [53, p. 89]. For now, we will not concentrate on the content of the supertask and whether it can be included in the structure of the role, but let us dwell on the fact that a role is a path that necessarily provides many new opportunities both in the direction of self-amplification and in the direction of socialization of the individual. Thus, another option for defining a role arises - this is the opportunity to be and become. By saying “he plays an important role in the development of such and such,” we mean that this person is important for some process, therefore, the term “role” can also be considered in the context of meanings, for example, as a set of meanings or as an opportunity to obtain ( achieve, have) significance in any process.

In theatrical and film announcements they write: roles and performers or characters and performers. This leads to a number of thoughts about the definition of a role and makes it possible to consider the role in relation to the concepts of actor and performer, but, note, “actor” is used as a synonym. Reasoning leads to the following conclusions. A role is a category that summarizes many concepts, such as an actor, type, character, hero. It contains the ideas of a large number of people of different generations about its content. And each role has a performer who, through his embodiment in the role, fulfills his destiny in the life performance. That is, the role can also be interpreted as a hypostasis, that is, the form and essence of existence, one of the incarnations of personality.

The next conclusion that a role is an actor draws us to the fact that a role is a predicate, not a noun, that is, a phenomenon that is more associated with action and dynamics than with objectivity. A role is a process of development from something to something. A role cannot simply be “assigned,” “dressed,” or “taken.” It must be played, lived, done. You can perform in it, become famous, and achieve success. An actor who has brilliantly played this or that role goes from type to hero, that is, he fills a rather schematic, so to speak, “empty” image with his own content and at the same time the birth of a qualitatively new hero is initiated. And the size of this hero is unimportant. This may be a minor or episodic role. But it was so executed that it did not leave people’s attitudes, ideas, and actions unchanged, that is, it is significant, it creatively transformed the world, which corresponds to the understanding of the hero in Hegel’s philosophy.

I have already touched on the correlation between the concepts of role and character. The character of a work is usually called a character. That is, a person who, through his actions, thoughts and experiences, creates an event, creates a work. Let me remind you that the term persona translated from Latin means face, personality, person. Consequently, the role, already as a psychological category, is directly related to the personality, although these two concepts, naturally, cannot be correlated synonymously. In this case, let us remember the existence of the concept of subpersonality. After all, according to R. Assagioli, subpersonalities are, as it were, relatively independent, more or less developed personalities within a person who can correspond to the roles that a person plays in life [17]. In science, social and personal roles are terminologically separated; in art, in particular theater, such a division does not exist. An actor, when developing the score for a role, does not separate the role, for example, of a friend and “I am a friend.” According to all the basics of acting, the personal role, position, and well-being of the actor in the given dynamics of dramatic action are primary. The rest are templates, stereotypes that can be used to perceive the role of others, but not for one’s own embodiment in the role, since in this case there will be no sincere inclusion in the role, full of the creative nature of the game. The result will be a creature raped by templates and the demands associated with them, with a broken psyche.

The role is considered in the technique of acting interaction and as the position that one or another character occupies in relation to other characters. Therefore, when defining a role, we must correlate it with the concept of position. The psychological dictionary gives two definitions: “1) place, position of an individual or group in the system of relations in society, determined by a number of specific characteristics and regulating the style of behavior. In this meaning, social position is synonymous with the concept of status; 2) views, ideas, attitudes and dispositions of the individual regarding the conditions of his own life, implemented and defended by him in reference groups. In this meaning, the social position conveys the essential characteristics of the concept of a social situation of development as a unity of the subjective and objective in the individual, formed in joint activities with others. Social position reflects the idea of a hierarchical organization of personality as a systemic strategy for studying mental phenomena. A change in social position in a person’s activity, as a result of which he finds himself faced with a moral choice in the situation of accepting a new social role for himself, is the basis for the study of personality” [17]. Dictionary of a conflictologist (Antsupov and Shipilov): position - “(from Latin positio - position) - a system of relations of the opponent to the elements of the conflict situation, manifested in appropriate behavior; a set of actual rights, responsibilities and opportunities of the opponent, realized in a conflict situation through communication, behavior and activity. It is characterized by dynamism and relative stability” [1, p. 344]. Musical dictionary: “the position of the performer’s hand and fingers when playing music. instrument in relation to the neck of a stringed instrument or the keyboard of a keyboard instrument,” as well as the position of the arms and legs in the dance, which helps to perform choreographic “steps” [41]. N.D. Levitov believes that “position” is not external social conditions, but a person’s internal attitude to his social status [37, p. 27]. We can list many different definitions, based on which we conclude that the concept of role is also correlated with the following categories - a system of relations, a set of actual rights, responsibilities and opportunities, status, position in the process of performing a work. Let us draw attention to the well-known fact that in the theory of roles (R. Linton, J. Moreno, J. Mead) the real role is interpreted as a link between human behavior and social structure, while status is a dynamic characteristic of the role, i.e. it is included into its structure. This is somewhat contradicted by the definition of a social role, in relation to which status is defined as a dynamic unity organizing several social roles.

Quite often, when studying the content of a role, scientists turn to the concept of “ideal model,” meaning that set of role characteristics that corresponds to ideal behavior and society’s ideas about the ideal role embodiment. There have been, and still are, examples of ideal models in history: the role structure of the family in Domostroy, the interaction between student and teacher in Confucianism.

An interesting approach is to the role as a mask that helps either hide or clearly position what is necessary, in the opinion of the performer of the role, for example, during the period of adaptation to new conditions. The mask is more often associated with defensive reactions, with fear, with a feeling of potential aggression, in contrast to the role, which is associated with movement, desire, and activation. In this case, the actor uses the stage directions of the author of the play, existing stereotypes approved by partners and spectators, the director’s hints and... ceases to be himself. But on the other hand, he gets time to “grow” the qualities necessary for playing the role in himself, to find his own personal style of performing the content of the role. The main thing is not to get too carried away, not to completely dissolve in the role, not to let it absorb you. The main task in the event that a role becomes a mask is to internalize it, to give it its own, individual (personal) content.

Actors define the concept of role for themselves in quite a variety of ways. Let us turn to the analytical works of the famous actress A. Demidova. The role is “the appropriation of someone else’s biography, someone else’s time of the character.” An actor, playing a role, temporarily receives someone else’s mental and physical content, simultaneously acting in two spaces: “I” and “not me,” creating in the course of role-playing a new exclusive, unique space that can be designated in different ways. For example, “I am what I could be,” or “I am potentially possible.” Consequently, the role is a space, an environment for self-creation, searching for the latent sides of the “I”. A. Demidova also writes about functional roles, those that the actor performs according to the purpose and content of the director, roles that we do not play or perform, but perform as a certain function in relation to the entire action.

In this case, the role becomes a function of the situation, goal, partner, and its bearer is not the subject of creativity, but is a translator of other people's thoughts and emotions. It is possible that in this case an intrapersonal conflict “I - role” appears, because a person does what is dictated to him, and not what he is interested in, what is significant for him. In conflictology, conflicts of this kind are explained by the fact that a person cannot cope with the role he performs for one reason or another and the associated sensations lead him to destructive states. As we see, the reason for this conflict lies in something else: the inability to realize what is significant for oneself in the role being played and, using some conclusions drawn from an analysis of the actors’ views on the essence of the role and the characteristics of its performance, the lack of naturalness. Oscar Wilde introduces this paradox: naturalness itself is one of the most difficult roles. Indeed, every actor strives to be natural, organic in the role he plays, but not everyone can achieve naturalness. The very concept of naturalness denies play, transformation into another and abandonment of oneself. Let us pay attention to this definition of a role: “Theatre, roles, are an ever-changing, living river, the sky, if you like” [26]. It again emphasizes the dynamic and natural nature of the role. A role cannot be imposed from the outside, it must be one of the essences of a person, only in this case the role and personality will not contradict each other. It is likely that in reality some roles are offered to us by force, but, having filled them with our content, we make them our natural part and then we no longer play them, but perform them, perform them. The difference between acting and performing lies in the essence of the role, in its purpose. Of course, we can get results by playing a role, but it will be determined by the rules of the game. The performance of a role necessarily contains elements of creativity, the essence of which, according to B. Pasternak, is dedication, being alive. Analyzing the differences in the approaches of L.N. Tolstoy and A.P. Chekhov to understanding the essence of the role, A. Demidova writes: “For Tolstoy, each role is a specific character, a specific person who acts as only he can act. In Chekhov, the life of the heroes does not seem to contain anything exceptional, strong or bright, but no matter the role there is a Theme” [26]. Based on this, let's try to correlate the concepts of role and character, role and theme. It is known that character develops in activity, in actions. But actions are almost always carried out based on the requirements of the role. Logic dictates that character development is partly determined by the role repertoire and the degree of its implementation. In this case, can we say that each role is a character? It would probably be more correct to say that in each role, characteristic features determined by its content are manifested and developed, which in their totality determine the character of a person. Let us pay attention to the definition of character: “Character (from the Greek character - trait, sign, omen, peculiarity) is an individual, fairly stable system of habitual ways of human behavior in certain conditions” [43]. It follows that one role, no matter how internally meaningful and outwardly expressive it is, cannot fully realize the indicated totality. The relationship between the concepts of role and theme in this regard seems more interesting. The term “theme” is used in science, literature, music, i.e. it is very rich in content. For example, in Ushakov’s dictionary the word “topic” is given two meanings: 1. The subject of some reasoning or presentation; subject, plot of conversation, conversation; 2. A musical proposal, which represents a developed motive and is the basis for development (music). Thus, if we draw analogies between the theme and the role, we come to the conclusion that the role must have a certain subject for the development, in my opinion, of character and relationships. We often say: “The main theme of the work is the theme of the struggle between good and evil.” Can we, in the same context, speak about the character of a person and his purpose: “The main role of this person is the role of a fighter against evil and he realizes it in a variety of circumstances and situations”? Probably yes. After all, by their dominant role we can perceive a person and assume certain features of interaction with him. This role is the theme of his life. If we proceed from these reflections, then an important conclusion follows in terms of psychological work with personality destruction and negative psycho-emotional states: it is necessary to determine the dominant role of the individual and work with it, starting from it - with other roles... It turns out even more interesting if we draw a parallel between the role and “developed motive” (see the second definition of the topic). Motive (from Italian motivo - occasion, motivation, and Latin motus - movement) in music theory is considered as: “1. Part of a melody that has independent expressive meaning; a group of sounds - a melody, united around one accent - stress. 2. In the common meaning - tune, melody" [50]. If by melody we mean a personality, and by motive a role, then it turns out that each role has its own meaning in the structure of a person’s personality and in each role there are many elements (“sounds”) that unite around the main dominant element (accent). Some idea emerges about the structure of the role, its place in the structure of the personality.

End of introductory fragment.

Causes of conflicts

The specific nature of the emergence of conflicts may be based on all sorts of reasons. The most characteristic ones include :

discrepancy between reality and personal concepts, ideas about something;

untimely receipt of information, its inaccuracy and discrepancy with reality;
logical errors, understatement, misunderstanding, misunderstandings in the communication process;
inconsistencies between people’s words and actions, unjustified expectations. Example: a man assumed that his friend would come to the meeting on time, as promised, but this did not happen;
social inequality of people;
the opposition of values, interests, concepts, aspirations and perceptions of the surrounding reality.

Structure of the conflict

The structure of the conflict includes the parties involved, the subject of the confrontation, the image of the conflict situation, the motive for the conflict and the position of the conflicting parties.

Parties to the conflict – these are those subjects of social interaction who are in a state of conflict, explicitly or implicitly supporting those in conflict. They are also called subjects of conflict.
Participants in the conflict can be designated in terms of role positions within which their interaction takes place in a given situation (“boss - subordinate”, “husband - wife”, “fathers and children”). The transition of the conflicting parties directly to conflict interactions begins with the actions of one of them, and the participant in the conflict who takes the initiative is the initiator of the conflict.
The subject of confrontation, I, is actually what causes the conflict to arise. The subjects of conflicts are diverse and cover most areas of human activity: economics, family, ideology, education, everyday life. The subject of the conflict itself can be clear or unclear (blurry). The subject of the conflict can be specific objects, specific opportunities, or some value statement, the exclusionary opinion of another, as well as compliance or non-compliance with certain rules.
Image of a conflict situation is a reflection of the subject of the conflict in the minds of the subjects of interaction. A conflict situation is those accumulated contradictions that are associated with the activities of subjects of social interaction and create the ground for the beginning of real confrontation between them. The image of a conflict situation among the parties to the conflict usually does not coincide. The development of a conflict situation can be influenced by factors such as:
situational factors that determine the direction of the conflict to soften or harden, which take into account both the participants’ own characteristics and the action of a third force.
Conflict motives are internal driving forces that push the subjects of interaction towards conflict (the motive appears in the form of a need, interest, goal, ideal, judgment).
The positions of the conflicting parties are what the parties to the conflict declare to each other in the process of conflict interaction.

Finished works on a similar topic

Course work The concept of conflict, its essence 470 rub.
Abstract The concept of conflict, its essence 260 rub.
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