Conflict is a normal side of life. Even in the most friendly social group, opposing interests can collide. This could potentially turn into conflict. Any difficulties in relationships lead to their development if they are treated correctly.
Conflict between man and woman
Everyone can easily give examples of conflict situations. Even the most peaceful person faces them. History includes two global conflicts that led to the death of a huge number of people, and many small ones. Therefore, the ability to resolve conflicts productively is one of the most important things in life.
Moreover, almost everyone can give an example of a conflict and its analysis if the situation has already been resolved. Unfortunately, few people rely on successes and use their successful experience in subsequent difficulties in relationships.
The concept of a conflict situation
A conflict situation is the presence of opposing interests, motives and outlooks on life. For example, the manager and his deputy have different visions of the company's strategy, but both are interested in its development. This is a conflict situation. It could potentially develop further, with each side imposing its vision on the other. In this case, the situation develops into a full-fledged conflict.
The main difference between a conflict situation and a conflict is that the latter is an already existing clash, while the former is only a prerequisite for it.
Conflict situation
In everyday life, these concepts do not differ, as in the literature on psychology or conflictology. Therefore, to simplify the understanding of the topic, we can consider a conflict situation and conflict as synonyms.
Attention! In conflictology, the concepts of subject and object of conflict are distinguished. The subject is the contradiction that underlies it. The object is the value on the basis of which they conflict. This can be not only money, but also good positions in the organization or role rights (when they want to become a boss, for example).
Types of conflicts
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The classification of types of conflicts is very large. There are 8 signs by which you can separate them:
- By duration: one-time, short-term (a quarrel in the family), protracted (for example, a long-term conflict in a married couple), recurring (often occurs when both parties regularly express their grievances, but do nothing to resolve the problematic situation), long-term (wars) , revolution).
- By volume: personal, group, intergroup, regional, between nations.
- According to the source of occurrence: subjective, objective and false. The division is conditional, because most conflicts are subjective. It seems to a person that he is full of contradictions, although they can always be resolved.
- Based on their means, conflicts are divided into violent and non-violent. War is a typical example of violent conflict. This division is also conditional, because all conflicts are based on different forms of violence: economic, psychological, physical, and so on.
- By form:
- Internal. A typical example is an intrapersonal conflict, when a person cannot decide whether to meet a person of the opposite sex or not. On the one hand, I want to, but on the other hand, I’m scared
- External. Conflict between two different people.
- Antagonistic. Conflicts that occur between two absolute opposites.
- According to the results: progressive and regressive. The first ones lead to progress, the others lead to destruction.
- By the nature of development: deliberate (created by a provocateur to achieve his goals), spontaneous (for example, when preschoolers in kindergarten were poisoned with food), and parents were not prepared for this.
- By sphere of life: family, religious, economic, and so on.
Conflict between boss and subordinate
These are not all the types of conflicts identified by psychologists that can be cited. The library has many books on this topic. It describes various conflicts, starting with the oppression of schoolchildren by their classmates (bullying), scandals with parents in adolescence, and ending with the clash of interests of an elderly patient with a doctor.
Stages of development
Stages of development of social conflicts:
- First. This is the introductory, pre-conflict stage, which is also divided into hidden and open stages. At the hidden stage, the conflict is just beginning to emerge, the parties comprehend what is happening and its reasons, and at the open stage the first moderate confrontations begin.
- Second. At the first stage of the second stage, the parties develop a desire to continue the confrontation, and expressed hostility appears. The conflict is gradually intensifying. At the second stage, a reversal occurs: the participants in the conflict compare their formed image of the opponent with the real one, and the situation develops depending on their conclusions.
- Third. This is a mature stage of the conflict, during which the parties make their first attempts to solve the problem and look for ways to do this.
- Fourth. At this stage, the conflict disappears entirely or partially.
What are some negative character traits in people? You will find the list on our website.
Description of the stages of social conflict in this video:
Conflict resolution
There are five strategies for dealing with conflict:
- Device. A person sacrifices his own interests for the sake of the interests of another. This is the behavior of children who are oppressed by teachers in elementary school because they have no other choice.
- Rivalry. A person defends his interests, ignoring the other side and not wanting to compromise.
- Avoidance. A person does everything to prevent conflict. Examples of conflicts of this type are found everywhere. The husband saw that his wife was starting to get angry and simply left so as not to anger her even more.
- Compromise. People structure communication in such a way as to achieve partial satisfaction of their interests. This can be seen very clearly in trading on the market. One person wants to buy a product at one price, the seller does not want to sell it at that price. As a result, they converge on a sum that is something in between.
- Cooperation. Focus on mutually beneficial results.
Stages of relationships between a man and a woman - description of the main periods
There is no good or bad strategy for dealing with conflict. If it arose for a minor reason, then you can give in. This will only strengthen the relationship. You can compete if it brings benefits. For example, when parents force a child to wash his hands, this is also a conflict, but such a strategy will be correct.
Important! It may be wiser to cooperate with the baby: convince him. It all depends on the parents and the individual child.
Meditation during conflict
It is important to provide examples of conflict situations and their resolution in order to understand how to resolve them in more detail.
In life
Any conflict in life is resolved in the following way: you need to clearly define your own and others’ interests, find the main contradiction, aggravate it and think about how to resolve it. This scheme is taken from the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ). Resolving any conflict is a creative task; there cannot be only one correct action. It should be as close as possible to the ideal final result.
You can give the following example of describing a conflict in the subject “conflict theory” (and analyze it). A friend borrowed money but doesn't want to give it back. The amount is significant, so the conflict cannot be resolved so easily. Considering that everyone is emotional, over time the scandal spread to other areas that no longer relate to the subject of the conflict.
Scheme for solving a problem situation in this case:
- The parties calm down.
- Determine the essence of the problem situation in detail. The borrower took the money at such and such a time, the size of the debt is such and such, and does not want to pay it back. In turn, the “creditor” demands this money. Only in the details.
- They aggravate contradictions that cannot be resolved. This entire body of information must be reduced to one or more contradictions, the two parts of which are completely opposite. For example, in order for Party A to be satisfied, the debt must be repaid. For Party B to be satisfied, she needs to not repay the debt.
- Ways are being found to overcome them. According to TRIZ theory, the ideal final result (IFR) is when the action/object is absent, but its function is performed. In this situation, you do not need to repay the debt, but ensure that the money is returned. It is necessary to find the option closest to the IFR. Possible ways to resolve the situation: installment plan, help in a business that will help save side A an amount equal to the debt, work for side A for some time, organize a joint business and for some time receive a smaller percentage of each transaction until the debt is repaid , or provide such strong help that party A will forgive the debt out of gratitude. By the way, the last option is the closest to the ideal final result. There is no need to give the money, but the function is completed (the debt is written off).
Important! All conflicts are resolved using a similar scheme. You might also consider which of the strategies described above is closest to the ideal end result in this case.
There are other possible examples of conflicts from life. They are solved in a similar way.
In family
The scheme for resolving family conflicts is not fundamentally different, except that one scandal is a logical continuation of all the previous ones. Unraveling such a tangle is not always easy, since claims that are not related to the main conflict ten years ago may be put forward, including unspoken ones. In any case, the sequence of actions is the same.
At work
Conflicts at work can be between a subordinate and superiors, different subordinates, entire subsections, a subsection and the manager. Each of them has its own specifics. Intergroup conflicts are always more severe than individual ones, but if two heads of related departments quarrel with each other, then every subordinate can get it.
Mediator during a conflict
Typically, conflicts at work require the involvement of a separate independent person - a mediator. This is a mediator whose task is to find the interests that are the subject of conflict and reconcile the warring parties. Ideally, the mediator should find a solution that satisfies everyone. In practice, this is difficult to do, so the conflict is resolved in several stages:
- Definition of interests.
- Reaching a compromise.
- Finding a mutually beneficial solution.
- Implementation of the solution.
First you need to put out the fire, find a compromise.
Important! This is only a temporary measure, because the discontent of each side sooner or later develops into a new conflict.
Therefore, after reaching a compromise, it is imperative to look for a more effective way to solve the problem situation.
How to avoid conflicts at work?
The best thing you can do at the initial stage of confrontation is not to enter into conflict. To do this, you need to be able to listen to your opponent and try to understand his motives. Treating people with respect allows you to avoid confrontation. In some situations it is worth showing a sense of humor. This helps to avoid many conflict situations.
How can a newbie avoid conflicts at work? He must accept the unspoken laws of the collective and treat them with respect. You can express your views only by becoming “one of your own”.
Analysis of the conflict
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Rarely do those in conflict try to make a detailed analysis of the situation. Although only in this case contradictions in the interests of each side can become a source of development and contribute to better mutual understanding.
The conflict resolution technique described above is based on their analysis. This is not the only parsing method, but it is very effective. To quickly solve a problem, you need to learn how to formulate it correctly. Analyzing a difficult situation helps this.
This article provided an example of a conflict and its solution. Regardless of its type (interpersonal, intercultural, pedagogical), the path to resolution is approximately the same.
