Subject. Psychology of communication. Conflicts and ways to resolve them.

Due to negative emotions, when contradictions arise, people behave in quite the same way. The psychology of conflict allows us to develop a clear classification of this undesirable phenomenon. In itself, a conflict is a clash of interests and does not always carry only negative functions. In some free communities, it can make significant progress, unlike in more totalitarian groups where conflict tends to fester. And ultimately lead to social upheaval.

In modern psychology there is no consensus on the classification of conflicts.

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Basic Concepts

A conflict is a contradiction between two subjects.

The subject is a participant in the conflict.

The object is the problem itself that caused the conflict. The object has the following characteristics:

• relativity (becomes an object of conflict only in someone’s eyes, for example, power can become an object of conflict);
• connection with the historical moment;
• limitation (not everyone will get it, not everyone will have enough).

Most often, resources, statuses and spiritual values ​​become objects.

An object is a specific material expression of an object. So, for example, the object can be status, and the subject can be a promotion or increase.

Causes of conflicts

Among the popular causes of conflicts are the following.

1. Inadequate self-esteem. The individual does not accept criticism. He either gets angry (high self-esteem) or gets angry and additionally experiences the conflict internally (low self-esteem).
2. Inadequate understanding of oneself, a situation, or another person. It arises from ignorance, believing rumors, receiving false information or lack of data.
3. Incompatibility of social roles. Internal contradiction of one person or different ideas about the same role between two people. For example, teenagers consider themselves adults, but for their parents they are children.
4. Discrimination on any grounds. We are talking about “us” and “strangers”.
5. Limited amount of resources, that is, “battle for place, benefits.”

The cause of a conflict can be anything that does not satisfy the needs of one person or group of people, affects interests (personal or group) and limits the behavior and activities of subjects.

The structure of conflict in psychology - how it is built

To determine the structure of the conflict, there is a fairly clear and simple scheme.

So, in the conflict we can distinguish:

• subject of dispute;
• individual subjects or a group of disputants;
• scale (from interpersonal to regional);
• conditions;
• behavior tactics of each side;
• outcome of the situation (decision, obtaining a result, final experience).

It is in this way that all conflicts that go beyond any social rules and norms are structured.

Functions of conflict

“The truth is born in a dispute,” says a well-known saying. This is true, but this is far from the only function of conflict. If the conflict is constructive (more on types later), then it performs the following functions:

• relaxation of tension (if the conflict is managed favorably, opponents begin to understand each other better);
• informational and connecting (opponents receive new information about themselves, each other and the situation, which they can use in the future);
• cohesion and structuring of a team, organization (we are talking about uniting people against someone or something);
• stimulation for change and development (searching for new arguments to defend one’s position);
• expression of hidden ideas and thoughts (allows you to more fully understand the situation and analyze all options for its solution);
• diagnostics of interpersonal relationships (“friends are known in trouble”).

Destructive conflict (with disapproving methods of resolution) also performs certain functions, but they are negative:

• emotional burnout;
• dismissal, expulsion;
• decreased productivity and performance;
• deterioration of relationships and socio-psychological climate;
• underestimation of the importance of the opposite party, inadequate assessment of oneself;
• emotionally painful focus on the struggle and victory itself, and not on the result (solving the problem).

In relation to a specific individual, conflict also carries positive and negative functions. The positive ones include:

• self-knowledge;
• correction of self-esteem;
• relieving your own tension;
• self-development;
• adaptation;
• socialization;
• self-affirmation;
• self-realization.

The negative effects of conflict on a specific person include:

• decreased performance,
• self-disappointment
• decreased self-esteem,
• loss of motivation,
• development of passivity,
• destruction of worldview,
• loss of valuables.

Functions of conflict in psychology - can it be beneficial?

Regardless of the true nature of the conflict, it always performs a certain number of functions.
There are only three most important:

1. Dialectical. Necessary to understand the reasons for the start of the dispute.
2. Constructive. In some cases, the caused tension can be directed towards solving the problem, which will allow the dispute to be resolved in a short time.
3. Destructive. An emotional personal coloring appears in the dispute. This seriously complicates solving the problem.

Socially, conflict can have both positive and negative functions, depending on the specific group.

Structure of the conflict

The structure of the conflict includes two elements:

1. A conflict situation as a set of causes and conditions for the development of a conflict (a contradiction between the needs and interests of subjects).
2. An incident as actions (conflict triggers) of one of the parties aimed at achieving goals. “How could he, well, that was the last straw! War means war!

A conflict situation, in turn, is based on the characteristics of the object (real or fictional), the goals and motives of the subjects (parties), their characteristics and vision of the situation.

The subjects and the object themselves are also included in the structure of the conflict. In addition, sometimes minor persons are involved, which can have an ambiguous impact:

• incite for the sake of one's own interests (provocateur);
• resolve disagreements (mediator);
• support one or both sides (ally, support group);
• plan and manage the conflict (organizer, “puppeteer”);
• to be accidentally involved (victim).

Abstract on psychology “Psychology of conflict”

Content

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………4

1. Socio-psychological characteristics of the conflict…………………4

2.Structure and dynamics of conflicts………………………………………………………6

3. Types of conflicting personalities according to the degree of conflict………………….8

Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………………….9

List of references………………………………………………………11

Introduction

Modern society is characterized by a complex system of relationships aimed at achieving certain goals. The subjects of these relationships often pursue different goals, sometimes radically opposing ones, which leads to certain difficulties in communication that result in conflicts. Conflicts themselves are a natural mechanism, which indicates their relative harmlessness to humans. However, in certain cases, conflicts can harm a person’s psyche, his material and spiritual world. Therefore, it is important to study conflicts, their types, structure, characteristics of their course, degree of expression, and ways of resolution.

1. Socio-psychological characteristics of the conflict

Conflict is a collision of incompatible, oppositely directed tendencies in a person’s consciousness, in interpersonal and group relationships, associated with acute negative memories. Conflicts mean those interactions and relationships that are based on incompatible interests, needs or values ​​of the participants in communication; their simultaneous satisfaction is impossible. Conflicts are accompanied by a negative emotional state.

Conflicts can be interpersonal, intragroup, or intergroup.

In the most general way, conflict can be defined as “the extreme aggravation of contradictions.” Psychologists also emphasize that such a difficult-to-resolve contradiction is associated with acute emotional experiences.

In the specialized literature, conflicts are considered at the social, socio-psychological or psychological levels, which are dialectically related to each other.

N.V. Grishina proposes to define a socio-psychological conflict as a clash that arises and occurs in the sphere of communication, caused by conflicting goals, modes of behavior, and attitudes of people, in the context of their desire to achieve certain goals.

The determining factor in the origin of conflicts is the appropriate combination of objective and subjective factors.

Factors that objectively determine the occurrence of conflicts are interpreted as a certain set of objective parameters that cause an objective conflict state in the system of interpersonal interaction. At the same time, the significant dependence of the conflict on the external context in which the conflict arises and develops is also emphasized.

The determining role in a person’s perception of the conflict nature of a situation is played by the subjective significance of the contradiction underlying the conflict, or the “personal meaning” that this contradiction has for a given individual. This personal meaning is determined by the entire individual life experience of a person, or more precisely, by such characteristics of his personality as value orientation and motivation.

The moment of awareness of the situation as a conflict is also associated with exceeding the individual threshold of tolerance. This universal psychological mechanism for the emergence of conflicts does not exclude the possibility of subsequent multivariance in the development of a conflict situation.

Sulimova T.S. believes that the decisive influence on the choice of behavior in conflict is exerted by the individual herself - her needs, attitudes, habits, way of thinking, behavior patterns, her past experience of problems and behavior in conflict. It should be noted that morality is a significant factor that helps prevent the development of conflict, its transition to extreme emotional forms, and also reduce the likelihood of developing interpersonal conflict.

2.Structure and dynamics of conflicts

A conflict situation is an objective situation that records the emergence of a real contradiction in the interests and needs of the parties. This contradiction may not be realized by the participants in the interaction for a certain time.

An incident is a situation of interaction that allows its participants to realize the presence of an objective contradiction in their interests and goals.

The interaction of these two factors leads to conflict.

Structure of a conflict situation:

• Parties to the conflict;
• Object of conflict.

The parties to the conflict have internal and external positions. External position: the motive for participation in the conflict, which is openly presented by the party to the opponents. Internal position: true interests, motives, values ​​of the conflicting party. The internal position is sometimes unconscious to the parties to the conflict.

Conflict becomes a psychological reality from the moment an incident occurs, which can be open or hidden.

The key to solving a conflict problem is to solve 2 main problems:

1. Determine the cause of the conflict.

2.Apply the appropriate technique for resolving conflict problems:

• creative visualization method (used to analyze causes)
• brainstorming method (search for alternatives)
• technique of volitional thinking (control over the implementation of decisions made).

Conflict resolution:

1. Consideration of conflicts and their definition.

2. Consideration of the causes of conflicts, focusing on the source of tension. Searching for hidden causes of conflict, studying the relationship between the parties before the conflict.

3. Solving the problem.

Conflict resolution techniques:

1. Cooling of emotions - suppressing negative experiences in yourself and others. It becomes possible to use reason and intuition to formulate and make decisions for both sides of the conflict.

2.Principled negotiations.

• assent position;
• position of cruelty;
• negotiations on the merits - resolving the conflict based on the essence of the matter: an analysis of what led to the conflict. Striving to find mutual benefit. If interests do not coincide, this technique is not suitable.

When resolving a conflict, it is necessary to consider:

• People have emotions, so it is necessary to distinguish between the essence of the problem and emotions;
• Overcoming shortcomings - it is necessary to focus on the interests of the parties, and not on positions;
• Difficulties arise if a decision is made under pressure;
• Consent should not depend on the categorical will of one of the parties;
• It is necessary to insist on objective criteria for your position.

K. Thomas identifies the following types of behavior in a conflict situation:

• rivalry (competition) as the desire to achieve satisfaction of one’s interests to the detriment of another;
• adaptation, which means, as opposed to competition, sacrificing one's own interests for the sake of another;
• compromise;
• avoidance, which is characterized by both a lack of desire for cooperation and a lack of tendency to achieve one’s own goals;
• cooperation, when participants in a situation come to an alternative that fully satisfies the interests of both parties.

In a questionnaire to identify typical forms of behavior, K. Thomas describes each of the five listed possible options with 12 judgments about the individual’s behavior in a conflict situation. In various combinations they are grouped into 30 pairs.

3. Types of conflicting personalities according to the degree of conflict

Most often, according to psychologists, the following types of conflicting personalities occur:

1. Conflict personality of demonstrative type.

Strives to constantly be the center of attention. Likes to look good in the eyes of others. Her attitude towards people is determined by how others treat her. A person of this type feels comfortable in superficial conflicts that arise for petty reasons. But it also adapts well to other types of conflict situations. Emotional behavior predominates, the rational principle is poorly expressed. Plans its activities from case to case and poorly implements it. Avoids painstaking, systematic work. Doesn’t shy away from conflicts and feels good in a dispute situation. Often he himself turns out to be the source of the dispute, but he does not consider himself as such.

2. Conflict personality of an uncontrollable type.

This is an impulsive person who lacks self-control. His behavior is difficult to predict. Often behaves defiantly and aggressively. In the heat of the moment, he does not pay attention to generally accepted norms of behavior in the team. Has high self-esteem. Constantly demands confirmation of his own importance. He tends to blame others for many of his failures. Cannot properly plan his activities or consistently implement his plans. The ability to relate one’s actions to the general goals of the group and to specific circumstances is not sufficiently developed. From past experiences, even bitter ones, few lessons useful for the future are learned.

3. Purposefully conflicting personality type.

Sees conflict as a means to achieve his own goals. Often acts as an active party in starting a conflict. Prone to manipulation and psychological games in relationships. Acts rationally in a conflict situation, is able to calculate possible options for its development, and soberly assesses the strengths and weaknesses in the positions of the parties. Possesses well-developed communication techniques in a heated argument. Represents the most dangerous type of conflict personality.

conclusions

Compliance with universal ethical norms and rules of conflict resolution is the most important condition for the formation of healthy and civilized relationships. An important role in resolving conflicts is played by the psychological characteristics of the individual and the characteristics of people.

It is equally important that views, life rules, approaches can and should be transformed, adapting to the people with whom one has to work, and at the same time providing others with the opportunity to adapt to oneself. Everyone should have their own level of morality, below which they cannot fall. To step over such a limit means to lose your own dignity and self-confidence, and without them there is no success in business, in business life.

It is especially important for managers to understand their great social responsibility. This is manifested in focusing on the person in all its manifestations - respect, social assistance, support. The moral and moral health of any work collective, as a rule, is ensured by the ethical canons of management.

Ethics and adherence to ethical standards in business communication and conflict resolution are of particular importance. The luxury of business communication is no less important than the “luxury of human communication.”

Bibliography

1. Borozdina G.V. Psychology of business communication. – M.: INFRA – M, 2004. – 295 p.
2. Psychology and ethics of business communication / Ed. V.N. Lavrinenko. – Moscow: UNITY, 2000.
3. Psychology of business success - Moscow: VLADOS-PRESS, 2001.
4. Psychology of Management / Ed. A.V. Karpova. – Moscow: Gardarika, 1999.
5. Conflicts / Ed. L.Yu. Subbotina. – Yaroslavl: Academy of Development, Academy Holding, 2001.

Stages of conflict

There are 4 stages of conflict development:

1. The formation of a conflict situation, that is, a potential conflict (not always realized by the subjects themselves).
2. Awareness of contradiction. Moreover, it can be adequate (real vision of the situation), inadequate (distorted vision of the situation), unclear (tension is obvious, but the reason is not clear), false (“made a mountain out of a molehill”).
3. Choosing conflict behavior tactics. The goal is to block the intentions and achievements of the opposite side.
4. Conflict resolution. Occurs due to a change in the situation or the attitude of the parties to it. Partial (external signs of conflict have been eliminated, but the parties still have internal motivations for confrontation) and complete (external and internal elimination of conflict behavior and motivations) resolution is possible.

Lecture 4. Stages and phases of conflict interaction

Stages and phases of conflict interaction

Conflicts, despite their specificity and diversity, generally have common stages:

1. potential formation of conflicting interests, values, norms;
2. the transition of a potential conflict into a real one or the stage of the participants in the conflict realizing their true or falsely understood interests;
3. conflict actions (incident);
4. removing or resolving a conflict.
5. the onset of the consequences of the conflict and their assessment.

Each conflict also has a more or less clearly defined structure. In any conflict there is an object of a conflict situation, associated either with organizational and technological difficulties, peculiarities of remuneration, or with the specifics of business and personal relations of the conflicting parties.

The next element of the conflict is the goals, subjective motives of its participants, determined by their views and beliefs, material and spiritual interests.

A conflict presupposes the presence of opponents, specific individuals who are its participants. And finally, in any conflict it is important to distinguish the immediate cause of the conflict from its true causes, which are often hidden.

The dynamics of the conflict is the process of development of the conflict, its qualitative changes during the transition from one stage to another.

The following three main stages/stages of conflict development can be distinguished:

Stage I - pre-conflict situation (latent stage);

Stage II - stage of open conflict;

Stage III - post-conflict stage (stage of conflict resolution/completion).

Let us consider the identified stages of conflict development in more detail.

The pre-conflict stage does not represent the conflict itself, but only the possibility of its occurrence. At this stage, the participants do not yet fully understand the essence of the contradictions.

At this stage, the following periods are distinguished:

The latent period is due to the unequal position of groups of individuals in the spheres of “having” and “being able”. It covers all aspects of life conditions: social, political, economic, moral, intellectual. Its main reason is the desire of people to improve their status and superiority;

A period of tension, the degree of which depends on the position of the opposing side, which has great power, superiority. For example, tension is zero if the dominant party takes a cooperative position, tension is reduced with a conciliatory approach, and very strong if the parties are intransigent;

The period of antagonism appears as a consequence of high tension;

The period of incompatibility is a consequence of high tension. This is actually a conflict.

The emergence of a conflict does not preclude the continuation of previous stages, since the hidden conflict continues on private issues and, moreover, new tensions arise.

In addition, the conflict can be resolved without effort on the part of possible opponents, if the conditions that gave rise to the conflict disappear on their own.

For example, conflicts that may arise due to a shortage of classrooms can be successfully resolved if the class schedule is drawn up in advance and all participants in the educational process are notified about this. In cases where conflict conditions persist, an effective way to resolve a conflict situation is to understand the causes of the conflict by its opponents and possible solutions.

Dynamics (from the Greek δυναμις - force) is a state of movement, the course of development, a change in a phenomenon under the influence of factors acting on it.

Conflict prevention at this stage includes the following actions on the part of its participants:

— negotiations and agreements regarding the degree of danger of the pre-conflict situation and the possibility of a conflict arising in the future;

— collecting as complete information as possible about the essence and causes of the pre-conflict situation;

— determining the degree of likelihood and possibility of conflict-free and painless resolution of detected problems;

— development of specific actions to resolve the pre-conflict situation.

So, at the hidden (latent) stage, all the basic elements appear that form the structure of the conflict, its causes and main participants, i.e. there is a basic basis of prerequisites for conflict actions, in particular, a certain object of possible confrontation, the presence of two parties capable of simultaneously laying claim to this object, the awareness of one or both parties of the situation as a conflict.

At this “incubation” stage of conflict development, attempts may be made to resolve the issue amicably, for example, to cancel the disciplinary order, improve working conditions, etc. But in the absence of a positive reaction to these attempts, the conflict moves into the open stage.

A sign of the transition of the hidden (latent) stage of conflict to open is the transition of the parties to conflict behavior. Since conflict behavior represents the externally expressed actions of the parties, their specificity as a special form of interaction is that they are aimed at blocking the enemy’s achievement of his goals and the implementation of their own goals. Other signs of conflicting actions are:

1. expanding the number of participants;
2. an increase in the number of problems that form a complex of causes of conflict, a transition from business problems to personal ones;
3. a shift in the emotional coloring of the conflict towards the dark spectrum, negative feelings, such as hostility, hatred, etc.;
4. an increase in the degree of mental tension to the level of a stressful situation.

The stage of open conflict is also characterized by the fact that the presence of confrontation becomes obvious to everyone. Each side begins to openly defend its own interests, involving third parties for this. Everyone tries to attract as many allies as possible to their side. Within the open period, one can distinguish its own internal stages, characterized by varying degrees of tension.

An incident is an event that initiates open confrontation between the parties. Opponents, on the one hand, are already ready for “military” actions against the enemy, on the other hand, they often lack information about his capabilities. Therefore, important elements of the development of the conflict at this stage are the collection of information about the true capabilities and intentions of opponents, the search for allies and the attraction of additional forces to one’s side. After the incident, it is still possible to resolve the conflict peacefully and reach a compromise through negotiations. If it was not possible to find a compromise, then the first incident is followed by the second, third, etc.

The conflict enters the next stage - it escalates (increases).

Conflict escalation is the most intense stage, at which all contradictions between its participants intensify, and all opportunities are used to win the confrontation. The only question is: “who will win?” At this stage, any negotiations or other peaceful means of resolving the conflict become difficult. Emotions often begin to drown out reason, logic gives way to feelings. The main task is to cause as much harm as possible to the enemy at any cost.

The conflict escalation stage is characterized by the following features:

- creating an image of an enemy (opposite sides begin to view each other through the prism of shortcomings, all positive qualities cease to be noticed);

— demonstration of force and the threat of its use (the desire to prove one’s strength and power by any means in order to force the enemy to capitulate, which leads to increased emotional tension, hostility and hatred);

- the use of violence (rigid subordination of some by others, the ultimate stage in the escalation of the conflict);

- a tendency to expand and deepen the conflict (the conflict begins to cover new areas and social levels of interaction).

At the stage of conflict escalation, it is very important to control your emotions and remember that the feeling of anger depends entirely on us.

With the mutual desire of the parties to relieve the tension, mutual concessions, and restoration of cooperation, the conflict enters the stage of resolution and completion.

Possible ways to resolve the conflict:

1) transformation of the objective factors that gave rise to the conflict;

2) transformation of the subjective, psychological side, ideal images of the conflict situation formed by the parties.

However, the effectiveness of these methods may vary. Their use can lead to either complete or only partial resolution of the conflict.

Partial resolution of the conflict is achieved when the external conflict behavior of the parties stops, but the internal, so-called cognitive, intellectual and emotional sphere that gave rise to the conflict behavior has not yet been transformed. Thus, the conflict is not resolved completely, only at the behavioral level, when, for example, administrative sanctions are applied to both parties to the conflict, but the objective cause of the conflict is not eliminated.

Complete resolution of the conflict is achieved only when both components of the conflict situation are transformed - both at the external and internal levels. Such a complete result is achieved, for example, when all fair demands of the conflicting party or both parties are satisfied by finding additional resources.

So, the end of the conflict is the last stage of the open period. Often the end of a conflict is characterized by both sides realizing the futility of continuing the conflict. At this stage, a variety of situations are possible that encourage both parties or one of them to end the conflict; These situations are also associated with ways to end the conflict.

The concepts of “ending a conflict” and “resolving a conflict” are not identical. Conflict resolution is a special case, one of the forms of ending the conflict and is expressed in a positive, constructive solution to the problem by the main parties to the conflict or a third party.

End of conflict situations

Ways to end the conflict:

A clear weakening of one or both sides or the exhaustion of their resources, which does not allow further confrontation

Eliminating an opponent or both opponents of a confrontation

The obvious futility of continuing the conflict and its awareness by its participants

Eliminating the conflict object

The revealed predominant superiority of one of the parties and its ability to suppress the opponent or impose its will on him

Changing the positions of both or one of the parties to the conflict

The appearance of a third party in the conflict and its ability and desire to end the confrontation

Participation in the conflict of a new force capable of ending it through coercion

Appeal of the parties to the conflict to the arbitrator and its completion through the arbitrator

Negotiations as one of the most effective ways to resolve conflict can be used in any situation

The post-conflict stage is characterized by the elimination of tension, relations between the parties are normalized and cooperation and trust begin to prevail.

However, the end of the conflict may be followed by a post-conflict syndrome, expressed in tense relationships between former opponents of the conflict. And if contradictions escalate, this may become the source of the next conflict.

Questions and tasks for reflection

Analyze the proposed situations from the point of view of the manifestation of conflict dynamics:

Situation 1

Parents came to the kindergarten to pick up their son's documents. The child attended kindergarten for three days, after which he fell ill, and the parents decided to take the child away. The manager demanded that the parents pay for the child’s stay in kindergarten through the Savings Bank. But the parents did not want to go to the bank and offered to pay the money to her personally. The manager explained to the parents that she could not accept the money. The parents were indignant and, having uttered a lot of insults against her and the kindergarten, left, slamming the door.

Situation 2

10 minutes before the lesson starts. There is a teacher and several students in the classroom. The atmosphere is calm and friendly. Another teacher enters the class to obtain the necessary information from a colleague. Approaching a colleague and having a conversation with him, the teacher suddenly interrupts it and turns his attention to a 10th grade student sitting opposite, who has a gold ring on her hand: “Look, the students are all wearing gold. Who gave you permission to wear gold to school?!” At the same time, without waiting for an answer from the student, the teacher turned to the door and, continuing to be loudly indignant, left the office, slamming the door. One of the students asked: “What was that?” The question remained unanswered. The teacher sitting in the classroom was silent all this time, unable to find a way out of the current situation. The student became embarrassed, blushed, and began to remove the ring from her hand. Turning to either the teacher or everyone in the class, she asked: “Why and for what?” Tears appeared in the girl's eyes.

Conflict classifications

Conflicts can be classified according to different principles.

By solution method

1. Antagonistic. The categorical attitude of one of the parties is characteristic. The result is complete collapse and the other side abandons its ideas.
2. Compromise. A group of conflicts in which the parties make mutual concessions, change goals and objectives, and methods of achieving them in order to solve a common problem.

By nature of occurrence

1. Social (between groups, group and individual, individuals).
2. Interstate.
3. National.
4. Ethnic.
5. Interethnic.
6. Organizational (between and within the enterprise).
7. Intrapersonal (contradictions in the inner world of the individual).

Towards

1. Horizontal. The parties are not equal in a hierarchical system.
2. Vertical. The parties are equal in status and age, that is, in any hierarchical system they are at the same level.

According to the consequences

1. Destructive. They destroy relationships.
2. Constructive. Strengthens relationships.

By severity

1. Open. Obvious actions.
2. Hidden. Indirect interaction.
3. Potential. Hidden aggression.

By number of participants

1. Intrapersonal. Contradiction of motives, needs and interests of one person.
2. Interpersonal. Disagreement between two people on some issue.
3. Between the group and the individual. For example, a child is not accepted in class.
4. Intergroup. For example, the confrontation between youth subcultures.
5. Intragroup. In turn, they are divided into conflicts of hopelessness (complete incompatibility of group members), uncertainty (ambiguous nature of the relationships between participants), attraction and fear (relationships between the core of the group and the rest of the participants).

I suggest you take a closer look at the most popular conflicts, classified by nature and number of participants.

Psychologist Sergei Klyuchnikov

cantrium.com | MySuomi.com | HELSINKI | TourMANN.com

Communication can be easy and difficult.

With easy communication, it is easy for people to find a common language, they do not have much conflict in their interests, their psychological qualities are adjusted to each other.

It was this kind of interaction - friendly, mutually enriching - that Saint-Exupéry called “the luxury of human communication.”

Like any luxury, such communication is not universal - otherwise it would cease to be a luxury.

Conflicts in our lives are inevitable, since contradictions between people are irremovable, and therefore conflicts in communication .

If there are no quarrels, then there are no contradictions, and there is no life. Stagnation.

The dream of a completely conflict-free life is utopian and unrealistic. However, ways of resolving conflicts can be very fruitful and not very fruitful (or even not at all).

By learning to conflict in communication correctly, you will learn to avoid unnecessary wars and win inevitable battles.

Causes of conflicts in communication

Most often, the cause of discord is psychological incompatibility (always multiplied by the inability to manage oneself).

People don't like each other for some mysterious reason. Sometimes the cause of conflict in communication lies in a difference of interests.

This often happens in broken marriages or with ex-friends or partners.

Once they were suitable for each other, and there were no problems in communication.

However, over time, their interests diverged so much that, despite the previous positive relationships, they forgot how to negotiate - and confrontation, emotional outbursts and military actions began.

And it happens that people have common interests and have nothing to share, and quarrels and conflicts in communication occur for completely trivial reasons, because of nothing - this, in fact, is called psychological incompatibility.

Initial aggressiveness, lack of restraint and inability to control oneself, increased readiness to quarrel, the habit of psychological “fights” are the third cause of conflicts.

Conflict situations can often be anticipated and predicted.

The partners start a business together, and as long as things go smoothly, they manage to get along well.

However, when a company experiences a period of decline or, conversely, an unexpectedly large income drops, people cannot withstand the critical situation and begin to quarrel.

Marriages of different ages often turn out to be fraught with a deep divergence of interests.

This happened to a couple of my friends whose age difference is twenty-four years.

The first years they lived well, but then the young wife began to grow up, and the husband began to grow old.

She wanted to visit and go to parties, but he gravitated toward a home-based lifestyle. The conflict situation had been brewing gradually for a long time and finally came...

Any conflict in communication is an interaction between people that is based on confrontation.

Their views, or motives, or interests or volitional impulses turn out to be directed against each other.

During conflict communication, turns to his interlocutor with his shadow side and demonstrates new, hitherto unknown qualities.

Just as war differs from peace, a person in a state of conflict also differs from himself in a peaceful state.

The psychological environment, most typical for residents of large cities in the modern world, is a very aggressive, conflict space, filled with fluids of aggression.

Aggression as a style of conflict communication is largely brought up by society itself.

It seems that our media have well grasped the thesis of Heraclitus - “War is the mother of all things.”

“To live with wolves, howl like a wolf,” the Russian proverb answers him.

An aggressive style of behavior is actively shaped by television.

The word “aggressive” itself is often interpreted in a positive way (“aggressive business”) and acts as a semantic equivalent of the word “successful”.

From all sides it is instilled in a person - the more you attack, the faster you will achieve your goal, you will become rich, successful, happy.

In turn, if they attack you, you must fight back immediately. Let us remember how often even the first Russian president uttered this phrase.

The space of modern human relations is quite aggressive. Communication is conflictual in nature; people have competing interests, different beliefs and psychological reactions.

Just as demand creates supply, so attack creates the need for defense.

Certain styles of attack and defense are formed.

The actions and deeds of a person who strikes another on a psychological level can be considered an attack.

It, in turn, can be conscious or unconscious, achieve the goal or not, but the attack will remain an attack in any case.

And any aggression from the outside, as is known, generates a desire to repel a blow and causes a conscious or reflexive defensive reaction.

Reflexive defense forces us, as a rule, to act from the lower floors of our Self.

Conscious defense involves choosing the right strategy and consciously using a particular type of behavior.

Conflict communication is based on the principles of attack - defense, which can be both reflexive and conscious.

It must be said that sometimes it is difficult to separate ordinary human communication, built on the exchange of thoughts, feelings, energies, volitional impulses, from communication based on the attack-defense principle.

Often, communication is built on this principle, which we do not perceive as conflicting: we slightly attack our neighbor and defend ourselves from his retaliatory attacks.

And he, in turn, constantly defending himself a little, constantly attacks us.

This flow of energy from a defensive state to an offensive state and back always occurs in the human community.

And there is no point in complaining about the wild, irrepressible rapacity of human nature.

This gives life a certain amount of sharpness and tension, helps us discharge excess energy relatively painlessly and practice “combat strikes” in comic battles.

This is how fencers train with dull swords, which can simply be replaced with real ones.

However, in real life, rarely does anyone perceive this living exchange of energies and feelings as attack and defense.

The attack-defense relationship system is used not only in conflict communication .

It is not always possible to trace at what point ordinary communication gradually transforms into real military operations, although each of us can recall many examples of such a transformation.

It all starts with harmless jokes, then they turn into caustic irony and often end in mutual insults.

A normal work dispute in a team, which began as a free exchange of opinions, may well transform into a verbal brawl with personalization and general hubbub.

The same is possible in the family. The playful grumbling of the young spouses gradually turns into a showdown and ends in a serious kitchen scandal.

The ways in which conflict develops, which is accompanied by an aggressive attack and painful defense, are truly inscrutable.

Alas, no one will tell you in advance when the dormant energies of evil and the reflexive habit of defense will break through.

But the very logic of our conflicts in communication shows that attack and defense in some sense constitute the deep essence of human existence as a whole.

It's hard to argue with this. And why? After all, it would be much simpler and more useful not to deny this eternal truth, but to master the rules of the game and learn

Phases of conflict in communication

Sooner or later, one or both participants in the ripening conflict realize their confrontation, and a quarrel becomes inevitable.

Conflicts in communication are a natural phase of the development and growth of contradictions.

There comes a realization: “yes, our interests do not coincide.” Previous strategies for smoothing out a conflict situation or veiling it do not work.

One side does not hold back and declares war on the other, carrying out some act of aggression: throwing ridicule, insult, mockery, claim or some other “bomb”.

This is followed by the retaliation phase. In a word, the war begins.

However, war can also proceed in different ways, and this depends on the tactics, temperament and education of the combatants.

Sometimes it can be stormy, sometimes calm and comes down to positional exchanges of tricks.

After the war phase in conflict communication , the conflict resolution phase begins, and it can also take different forms.

This may be a temporary respite in hostilities or the exhaustion of aggression: the parties finally begin to agree on something, sometimes without even understanding why they had to get into a fight.

It’s easy to imagine conflict as a wave.

Both have a beginning phase, a rising phase, a climax phase and a falling phase, after which the conflict can either be interrupted or flare up again.

The life of conflicted people is continuous waves, overlapping each other and exhausting the psyche.

Psychologists who have studied conflict trace certain dynamics in the possibility of its resolution.

At the beginning phase, about 90% of conflicts fade away: passions at this stage have not yet flared up, and it is quite easy to extinguish their fire.

In the escalation phase, it is possible to prevent approximately 50% of conflicts.

In this phase, it is already more difficult to do this than at the beginning, because the parties have already taken certain steps, the conflict in communication has flared up, and retreat at this stage for many means a loss of face: the other side would interpret this as their victory.

This situation is extremely painful for the pride of many people. At the culmination phase, the chances that the conflict in communication can be stopped are already less than 5%.

When it comes to fighting, literally and even figuratively, there is hardly any hope that people will immediately be able to forget their grievances, apologize to each other and begin to calmly dot the i’s.

As a rule, in such cases they fight to the bitter end - until someone retreats before the opponent’s strength or both fall exhausted.

During the decline phase, the conflict is extinguished in about 20% of cases: having been rude to each other and thereby letting off steam, one fifth of people calm down and become capable of negotiating.

The remaining four-fifths disperse as enemies, emerging from the conflict with frustration, hatred and irritation.

Conflicts in communication and psychological types

The degree of conflict in communication depends on what psychological type a person belongs to.

Conflictologists, based on the typology of personalities created by Gannushkin, identify five main psychological types: hysteroid, schizoid, hyperthymic, epileptoid and asthenic.

A hysteroid is a vain poser, an extrovert with defiant manners.

He loves to be the center of attention and often works for the public: some call it demonstrativeness and posing, and some call it artistry.

Usually the hysterical person goes into conflict so that someone will see and appreciate it.

The most striking example of such behavior in politics is embodied by Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

A schizoid is a person of principle, often of an introverted nature.

These stubborn people are guided in their behavior by their internal decision, and not by the external situation.

They love schemes and systems, which is fraught with a lack of flexibility, rigidity, and focus on themselves and their vision.

As a rule, such people are suspicious, have inflated self-esteem and are little critical of their actions.

At the same time, they are poorly oriented in the situation, poorly sensing its nuances, and therefore it is not so rare for them to have a variety of conflicts in communication .

If such a person does not see manifestations of goodwill towards himself, he often interprets this as manifestations of aggression.

He reacts to this with resentment, the right to which he will stubbornly defend.

Hypertim is a leader who loves power, a person with great ambitions and strong passions.

For the sake of the goal, he is able to restrain his feelings, but if he is dealing with someone who is weaker than him, he does not stand on ceremony and throws out on his interlocutor everything that he feels at the moment.

Hyperthyms are like fast-moving cars that have difficulty braking.

If they had driven slower, there would have been fewer casualties on the road.

In a state of rage and conflict in communication, such people do not follow any rules, they are not prone to self-criticism, but are always ready to blame another for creating an emergency situation on the road.

Epileptoid is a thorough, meticulous person and very sensitive to details.

He is often stingy, ready to defend every little thing that seems important to him.

He cannot tolerate disorder in others; the forces of chaos drive him crazy.

Outwardly, the epileptoid is always reserved.

He makes high demands on himself and others, but this is often perceived as petty nagging.

An asthenic person is a so-called conflict-free person.

This type of person is always ready to make concessions.

A weak will makes him very suggestible, unstable, inconsistent and dependent on the opinions of others.

He cannot resist other people and therefore is always ready to smooth out rough edges and make compromises, without even thinking about the reasons for the conflict.

If you want to understand the psychology of the person who is in conflict with you, try to understand what psychotype he belongs to.

Do not forget that it was also useful for you to determine your own psychotype and, depending on this, choose the right strategy when communicating with your opponent.

In this case, your communication conflicts will more often end in your favor.

Social Like

Ethnonational conflict

These are contradictions between countries and peoples. The causes of such conflicts include:

• territorial disputes;
• cultural, historical, economic and social divisions;
• competition in the division of labor;
• struggle for resources.

Ethnonational conflicts develop longer than others. They are characterized by a latent period (putting forward demands), a manifestation stage (sanctions, the beginning of actions), an active period (attacks, strikes) and, in fact, the result (consequences).

As a rule, such conflicts are resolved first by force, then by finding a compromise and cooperation. These are political issues, so I don’t want to get into this jungle in more detail. Let's talk about something more mundane and smaller-scale.

Interpersonal conflict

The confrontation between two people has its own distinctive features:

1. The confrontation takes place here and now (in person, by phone, via the Internet).
2. In the process, all reasons are revealed (general and specific, external and internal).
3. This is a confrontation between individual psychological characteristics (character, temperament, will, intelligence).
4. There is high emotional tension, all sides of the relationship are involved.
5. A conflict affects the interests of not only two people, but also those who live, communicate, and work with them.

Interpersonal conflict arises against the background of:

• negative assessment of a person’s actions, belittling his importance;
• demonstrations of superiority;
• downplaying the merits of another person;
• violation of personal space;
• threats, reproaches;
• negative emotional state of one of the partners;
• interruptions;
• antipathies.

A conflict between two people goes through the following stages:

• awareness of the goal,
• dispute,
• threats,
• actions,
• attracting others,
• blows,
• self-destruction.

Resolving interpersonal conflict

It is obvious that without a settlement the conflict will not bring anything good. This is where classic strategies of behavior in conflict come to the rescue, which are selected according to the characteristics of the opponents, the cause of the conflict, the goal and the prevailing conditions.

Several psychological tricks help resolve interpersonal conflict:

• emphasize the opponent’s individuality;
• address by name;
• respect the rights of the opponent;
• focus on the positive traits of the person opposite (“You are an attentive and caring father, an interesting conversationalist, if only you were also a romantic husband”);
• connect time (try to forget about the “here and now”, connect the past and look into the future);
• to compliment;
• focus on the social role of the opponent.

Prevention of interpersonal conflict

How can you prevent emerging interpersonal conflict? Here are some recommendations.

1. If your opponent is aggressive (shouting, angry), then give him time to defuse. Just wait quietly. It is important not to appear arrogant. There is absolutely no point in saying anything - you won’t be heard.
2. Then ask to express dissatisfaction using facts, not emotions.
3. Reduce aggression with funny, kind, unexpected questions, but be careful as this may not always apply.
4. Change "you" to "I". That is, not “you deceived me,” but “I feel deceived.”
5. Identify the problem (not emotions, likes and dislikes) and think about how it can be solved.
6. Don't look for someone to blame. Accept the fact of the problem, imagine that someone else has it. How can it be solved? Express the sentences one by one.
7. Don’t forget to slow down and wait if emotions run high again.
8. Remember to always respect your personality and your opponent. Don't evaluate a person, evaluate their actions. Not “you are unnecessary”, but “you have not fulfilled your responsibility.”
9. Repeat your opponent’s phrases, check whether you correctly understood the meaning of his words.
10. Stay on an equal footing. Don't go up to the level of superiority, but don't go down in the eyes of your opponent either.
11. Don't prove it. Express or write down the positions of each side, determine what they have in common and what is different.
12. Don't be afraid to apologize sincerely. This always earns respect from the opponent and changes the course of the conversation.
13. If you want to say something rude or undignified, then it’s better not to say anything.
14. Do not state the undesirable state of your opponent (“here you are getting mad again”).
15. Don't get personal or slam doors.

You can describe the situation in the form of a table. This will help put everything together, fully evaluate the positions of both sides, and the formal nature will pacify emotions. Include in the table such items as problem, goals, obstacles, fears, strengths, opportunities, personal needs, emotions, missing information, common ground.

For the most part, people are ready for compromise or cooperation, but another question is that few people are ready to take the first step towards resolving the conflict.

Family conflict

Family conflicts can arise between children, children and parents, parents and grandparents, spouses and so on, there are a lot of options. Obviously, it is impossible to avoid contradictions in a family, but they can and should be rationally overcome. Popular causes of family conflicts include:

• selfishness of one or more people;
• inflated self-esteem of one or more members;
• unsatisfied need for self-affirmation;
• inability to communicate;
• financial problems or excessive material demands of one of the spouses;
• disagreements in matters of education and housekeeping;
• mismatch of temperaments and reluctance to get to know each other;
• bad habits of one of the spouses;
• problems in sexual life.

Destructive tactics include (and should be avoided):

• hypocrisy;
• empty promises;
• escape (to leave, to sleep, to remain silent);
• false agreement (if only they would fall behind);
• humiliation and destruction of something significant for a partner (indirect blows);
• a blow to secrets (sore spots that were entrusted to you);
• revenge at the right opportunity;
• attribution of secondary problems.

Instead you need:

• plan the conversation (time and place, participants);
• clearly see the subject and object of the conflict;
• be correct (if you criticize, immediately offer an alternative);
• fully, but in an acceptable form, express your emotions and feelings (positive and negative);
• repeat your opponent’s words to ensure they are understood correctly and to better understand his position;
• break down a complex problem and a big conversation into several small ones;
• occupy the time between them with something pleasant;
• compare previous information and the picture formed taking into account new data in new conversations;
• offer your help to your partner.

Do not incite conflict, be prepared to take the first steps, triple the unexpected surprise, show signs of attention, do not cultivate resentment.

Fathers and Sons

Conflicts between parents and children, perhaps, occupy one of the leading positions. In order to prevent child-parent conflicts, it is recommended to adhere to the following recommendations.

1. Study the psychological and pedagogical characteristics of children, improve your pedagogical culture.
2. Create family traditions, collective hobbies and work activities.
3. Be realistic in your requirements, back up theory with practice.
4. Follow the same educational line with all relatives.
5. Take an interest in the child’s life (hobbies, problems, interests, successes).

Abstract on the topic: “Conflicts in communication”

Abstract on the topic:

"Conflicts in Communication"

Plan

1. Concept of conflict
2. Prerequisites for conflicts in communication
3. Strategies for behavior in conflict situations
4. Methods for relieving tension in a conflict situation
5. Literature

Concept of conflict

Conflicts arise in almost all spheres of human activity. Man cannot avoid them. Therefore, it is necessary to have at least a basic understanding of conflicts and methods of behavior when they arise. What is conflict? In psychology, conflict is defined as “a clash of oppositely directed, mutually incompatible tendencies in the consciousness of an individual, in interpersonal interactions or interpersonal relationships of individuals or groups of people, associated with negative emotional experiences.” The basis of conflict situations in a group between individuals is a clash between opposing interests, opinions, goals, and different ideas about how to achieve them.

In social psychology, there is a multivariate typology of conflict depending on the criteria that are taken as a basis.

Intrapersonal conflict. This type of conflict can take many forms, the most common form of role conflict being when one person is presented with conflicting demands about what the outcome of their work should be or, for example, when job demands are not consistent with personal needs or values. Research shows that such a conflict can arise with low job satisfaction and low self-confidence. For example, an intrapersonal conflict between family sympathies and a leader’s sense of duty.

Interpersonal conflict. This is the most common form of conflict in organizations. Most often, this is a struggle between managers over limited resources, capital or labor, over the time of use of equipment, or for approval of a project. Each of the parties to the conflict believes that, since resources are limited, he must persuade higher management to allocate these resources to him and not to other management. Interpersonal conflict can also appear as a clash of personalities. People with different personality traits, views and values ​​are sometimes simply unable to get along with each other. As a rule, the views and goals of such people differ radically (for example, between a manager and his deputy regarding a position, bonus; between employees).

Conflict between the individual and the group. Conflict may arise between an individual and a group if that individual takes a position that differs from that of the group. For example, when discussing ways to increase sales at a meeting, most will believe that this can be achieved by lowering the price. And someone alone will be convinced that such tactics will lead to a decrease in profits. Although this person, whose opinion differs from the group, may have the company's interests at heart, he can still be seen as a source of conflict because he goes against the group's opinion. Another common conflict of this type is between the group and the leader. Such conflicts occur most acutely when the leadership style is inappropriate to the level of maturity of the team, due to the discrepancy between the competence of the manager and the competence of specialists, and due to rejection of the moral character of the manager and specialists.

Intergroup conflict. Organizations are made up of many formal and informal groups. Even in the most successful organizations, conflicts can arise between such groups. Informal groups that believe that the leader is treating them unfairly may become more united and try to “get even” with him by reducing productivity. A striking example of intergroup conflict is the conflict between a trade union and the administration.

Based on their direction, conflicts are divided into horizontal, vertical and mixed. Horizontal conflicts include those conflicts that do not involve persons subordinate to each other. Vertical conflicts include those that involve persons subordinate to one another. The most common are vertical and mixed. On average they make up 70 - 80% of all others. Mixed conflicts have both vertical and horizontal components. They are the most undesirable for a leader, since in them he is, as it were, “tied hand and foot.” The fact is that in this case, every action of the manager is considered by all employees through the prism of this conflict.

According to their significance for an organization, conflicts are divided into constructive and destructive. Constructive conflicts are characterized by disagreements that affect fundamental aspects of the life of the organization and its members, and the resolution of these disagreements helps to bring the organizational structure and personality to a new, higher and more effective level of development.

The conflict will only be constructive if the opponents do not go beyond ethical standards, business relationships and reasonable arguments. A destructive conflict arises in two cases: when one of the parties stubbornly and rigidly insists on its position and does not want to take into account the interests of the other party; when one of the opponents resorts to morally condemnable methods of struggle, seeks to psychologically suppress the partner, discrediting and humiliating him. Destructive conflicts lead to negative, often destructive actions, which leads to a sharp decrease in the effectiveness of the group or organization.

According to the nature of the causes, conflicts are divided into objective and subjective. The first are generated by objective reasons, the second by subjective reasons.

Despite their specificity and diversity, conflicts generally have common stages:

• potential formation of conflicting interests, values, norms;

• the transition of a potential conflict into a real one or the stage of the participants in the conflict realizing their true or falsely understood interests;

• conflicting actions;

• removal or resolution of the conflict;

• post-conflict situation, which can be functional (constructive) and dysfunctional (destructive).

Every conflict has a certain structure. In any conflict there is an object of a conflict situation, associated either with organizational and technological difficulties, peculiarities of remuneration, or with the specifics of business and personal relations of the conflicting parties. The next element of the structure of the conflict is the goals, subjective motives of its participants, determined by their views and beliefs, material and spiritual interests. In a conflict there are opponents, specific individuals. In any conflict, it is important to distinguish the reason for the clash from the real reasons, which are often hidden. It is important to remember that as long as all the listed elements of the conflict structure exist (except for the reason), it cannot be eliminated. An attempt to end a conflict situation by force or persuasion leads to its growth and expansion by attracting new individuals, groups or organizations. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate at least one of the existing elements of the conflict structure.

2. Prerequisites for conflicts

Let's briefly look at what can create the basis for conflicts.

Disagreements may arise due to a discrepancy between your reasoning and the reasoning of the other side. After all, how you see the problem depends on from which bell tower, figuratively speaking, you look at it. People tend to see what they want to see. From the mass of facts, we remove those that confirm our views, ideas and beliefs, and do not pay attention or mistakenly interpret those that call our ideas into question. However, it should be borne in mind that understanding another’s point of view does not mean agreeing with it. This can only help narrow the area of ​​conflict. Also, you should not interpret the statements or actions of the other party in a negative way, as this causes negative emotions. But we experience irritation in response to negative emotions addressed to us and we have a desire to compensate for our psychological loss by responding with insult to insult. In this case, the answer should not be weaker, and to be sure it is done with a reserve. Condescending attitude, categoricalness, banter, reminder of some losing situation, etc. - all this causes a negative reaction among others and serves as a breeding ground for the emergence of a conflict situation.

People, very often talking, do not understand each other. There are many reasons for this. In particular, in interpersonal communication, a significant part of the information exists at the level of the unconscious and cannot be fully expressed in words. Due to a limited vocabulary, lack of time or for other reasons, it is not considered necessary to say everything, and therefore a lot is perceived by the interlocutor through non-verbal means of communication (facial expressions, intonation, gestures, postures, etc.).

One of the reasons for errors in perception may be a distorted perception of the personal qualities and motives of behavior of those involved in the conflict. As a rule, both sides attribute similar virtues, noble motives to themselves, and vices to their opponents: good people do good things, and bad people act in bad ways.

In addition, each person has his own characteristics in the perception of another person. In one of the areas of modern psychology - neurolinguistic programming - these differences form the basis for classifying people into visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners. Thus, visual people love visual presentation, concreteness, do not tolerate walking in front of them during communication, and are prone to accusatory statements. Audials perceive everything through auditory images, music, speech, kinesthetics - through the states of their body. All this taken together creates the preconditions for conflict and difficulties in managing it.

Further, one of the reasons for the conflict may be an unbalanced role interaction between two people, i.e. in the process of interpersonal communication, people (one or both) may not play the roles that the communication partner expects from each of them.

The cause of the conflict may be people's failure to understand that when discussing a problem (especially a complex one), the discrepancy in positions may not be caused by a real difference in views, but by approaching the problem from different sides.

A fairly common cause of conflict can also be the choice by the parties to the conflict of different ways of assessing each other’s performance and personality. When evaluating other people, a person, as a rule, takes as the basis for his assessment what he failed to do in comparison with the norm, the ideal. We evaluate our own results of activity, often comparing it with what it was at the beginning of the activity, or with other people doing similar work worse.

Taking into account the difficulties in the communication process, E. Melibruda, W. Siegert and L. Lang developed a model of human behavior in a conflict situation from the point of view of its compliance with psychological standards. It is believed that constructive conflict resolution depends on the following factors:

adequacy of the perception of the conflict, that is, a fairly accurate assessment of the actions and intentions of both the enemy and one’s own, not distorted by personal biases;

openness and effectiveness of communication, readiness for a comprehensive discussion of problems, when participants honestly express their understanding of what is happening and ways out of a conflict situation;

creating an atmosphere of mutual trust and cooperation. It is also useful for a manager to know what individual personality traits (character traits) create a person’s tendency or predisposition to conflict relationships with other people. Summarizing the research of psychologists, we can say that such qualities include:

inadequate self-esteem of one’s capabilities and abilities, which can be either overestimated or underestimated. In both cases, it may contradict the adequate assessment of others - and the ground is ready for conflict;

the desire to dominate at all costs where this is possible and impossible; say your last word;

conservatism of thinking, views, beliefs, unwillingness to overcome outdated traditions;

excessive adherence to principles and straightforwardness in statements and judgments, the desire to tell the truth face to face at any cost;

critical attitude, especially unfounded and unreasoned;

a certain set of emotional qualities of a person (accentuations of character, manifested in their excessive expression, representing extreme variants of the norm) - anxiety, aggressiveness, stubbornness, irritability, suspicion, morbid touchiness.

But a conflict arises if the personal characteristics of a person or group come into conflict with the above-mentioned characteristics of a person predisposed to conflicts, i.e. in the presence of interpersonal or socio-psychological incompatibility.

As an example, consider incompatible types of temperament under certain conditions. In a normal, calm environment, choleric and phlegmatic people successfully cope with the work assigned to them. In an emergency situation, the slowness of a phlegmatic person, his desire to think about the course of activity and the hot temper, imbalance and fussiness of a choleric person can become the cause of conflict relations between them.

Even more often, differences in the needs, interests, and goals of different people interacting become the basis for interpersonal incompatibility. The main interest, for example, of the head of an established company or enterprise is to expand the business, and of the employees, so that as much money as possible can be allocated for salaries. This creates friction between them, which can lead to conflict even between close people.

Socio-psychological incompatibility can also arise due to the fact that the group or environment makes demands on the individual that diverge from those to which this person is oriented.

3. Behavior strategies in a conflict situation

In real life, it is not so easy to find out the true cause of the conflict and find an adequate way to resolve it. Many recommendations have been developed regarding various aspects of people’s behavior in conflict situations, the selection of appropriate behavioral strategies and means of conflict resolution, as well as its management.

The main, most acceptable strategies for behavior in a conflict situation were developed by psychologists K. W. Thomas and R. H. Kilmann. According to their research, there are five main styles of behavior in conflict situations:

• device;

• compromise;

• cooperation;

• ignoring;

• competition.

The style of behavior in a particular conflict, in their opinion, is determined by the extent to which you want to satisfy your own interests, while acting passively or actively, and the interests of the other party, acting jointly or individually. If we present this in graphical form, we obtain the Thomas-Kschlmann grid, which allows us to analyze the conflict and choose the optimal behavior strategy (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Thomas-Kilmann grid

It, in turn, allows each person to create their own conflict resolution style.

We will give recommendations on the most appropriate use of a particular style, depending on specific situations and the nature of a person’s personality.

The style of competition and rivalry can be used by a person who has a strong will, sufficient authority, power, who is not very interested in cooperation with the other party and who seeks first of all to satisfy his own interests. It can be used if:

• the outcome of the conflict is very important to you and you place a big bet on your solution to the problem that has arisen;

• you have sufficient power and authority and it seems obvious to you that the solution you propose is the best;

• you feel that you have no other choice and have nothing to lose;

• you must make an unpopular decision and you have enough authority to choose this step;

• you interact with subordinates who prefer an authoritarian style.

However, it should be borne in mind that this is not a style that can be used in close, personal relationships, since it cannot cause anything other than a feeling of alienation. It is also inappropriate to use it in a situation where you do not have sufficient power, and your point of view on some issue differs from the point of view of your boss. conflict communication behavior

The cooperative style can be used if, while defending your own interests, you are forced to take into account the needs and desires of the other party. This style of behavior is the most difficult, as it requires longer work. The purpose of its application is to develop a long-term mutually beneficial solution. This behavior requires the ability to explain your desires, listen to each other, and restrain your emotions. The absence of one of these factors makes this style of behavior ineffective.

A collaborative style for conflict resolution will be acceptable in the following situations:

• it is necessary to find a common solution if each of the approaches to the problem is important and does not allow compromises;

• you have a long-term, strong and interdependent relationship with the other party;

• the main goal is to gain joint work experience;

the parties are able to listen to each other and outline the essence of their interests;

• it is necessary to integrate points of view and strengthen the personal involvement of employees in activities.

The style of compromise is that the parties seek to resolve differences by making mutual concessions. In this regard, it is somewhat reminiscent of the style of cooperation, but it is carried out on a more superficial level, since the parties are inferior to each other in some way. This style is most effective when both parties want the same thing, but know at the same time that it is impossible. When using this style, the emphasis is not on a solution that satisfies the interests of both parties, but on an option that can be expressed in the words: “We cannot fully fulfill our desires, therefore, it is necessary to come to a decision with which each of us could agree.” .

This approach to conflict resolution is possible in the following situations;

• both sides have equally convincing arguments and have equal power;

• satisfying your desire is not very important to you;

• you may be satisfied with a temporary solution, because there is no time to develop another, or other approaches to solving the problem have turned out to be ineffective;

• compromise will allow you to gain at least something rather than lose everything.

The avoidance style usually occurs when the issue at hand is not that important to you, you do not stand up for your rights, do not collaborate with anyone to develop a solution, and do not want to spend time and effort on solving the problem. This style of behavior is also recommended in cases where one of the parties has more power or feels that he is in the wrong, or believes that there are no serious reasons for continuing contact.

The evasion style is applicable in the following situations:

• the source of disagreement is trivial and insignificant for you compared to other more important tasks, and therefore you believe that it is not worth spending energy on it;

• you know that you cannot or even do not want to resolve the issue in your favor;

• you have little power to solve the problem in the way you want;

• you want to buy time to study the situation and obtain additional information before making any decision;

• Trying to solve a problem right away is dangerous, since openly discussing the conflict can only worsen the situation.

You should not think that this style is an escape from a problem or an evasion of responsibility. In fact, leaving or delaying may be an appropriate response to a conflict situation, since it may resolve itself in the meantime, or you can deal with it later when you have enough information and a desire to resolve it.

The accommodating style means that you work cooperatively with the other party, but do not try to defend your own interests in order to smooth out the situation. This style is most effective when the outcome of the case is extremely important to the other party and not very significant to you, or when you are sacrificing your own interests in favor of the other party.

The adaptation style is appropriate in the following most typical situations:

• restoring calm and stability is more important than resolving the conflict;

• the subject of the disagreement is not important to you or you are not particularly concerned about what happened;

• you think that it is better to maintain good relationships with other people than to defend your own point of view;

• you realize that the truth is on your side;

• you feel that you have little chance of winning and that you do not have enough power.

However, none of the considered styles of behavior in a conflict situation can be singled out as the best. It is advisable to learn how to effectively use each of them and consciously make one or another choice, taking into account specific circumstances. Thus, in a conflict situation or when dealing with a difficult person, you should use the approach that is most appropriate for the particular circumstances and in which you feel most comfortable. The best advisers in choosing the optimal approach to the problem of conflict resolution are experience and the desire not to complicate the situation and not to bring a person to stress. You can, for example, reach a compromise, adapt to the needs of another person (especially a partner or loved one);

persistently pursue the realization of one’s true interests in another aspect; avoid discussing a conflict issue if it is not very important to you; use a collaborative style to satisfy the most important interests of both parties. Therefore, the best way to resolve a conflict situation is to consciously choose the optimal behavior strategy.

To do this, it is advisable to determine your most typical conflict resolution style based on the K. Thomas test “Your Way of Reacting in Conflict”

4. Methods for relieving psychological stress in a conflict situation

In psychology, many studies have been conducted to study the possibilities of individual and group psychocorrection of conflict behavior:

• socio-psychological training;

• autogenic training;

• self-analysis of conflict behavior;

• individual psychological counseling;

• mediation activity of a psychologist.

Here are some of the methods and techniques that can help you relieve tension and free yourself from irritation and anger.

The method of switching to another type of activity is associated with motor activity, which requires physical exertion, thanks to which adrenaline is burned. So, if you are at work, do any type of activity: sort through papers; water the flowers; make tea; rearrange the table; walk several times at a fast pace along the corridor; go into the toilet room and hold your hands under cold water for 4 - 5 minutes; go to the window and look at the sky and trees. If you are at home, then try to go outside and run or walk at a fast pace for 10-15 minutes; take a contrast shower; wash the accumulated dishes. Try to practice this method as often as possible in those moments when you feel like you are losing self-control. Then this method will become a habit for you. Also, try to do something at least once a week that makes you happy, calms you down, and brings you satisfaction.

Visualization method - mentally express your feelings and experiences or do something to the person who caused a negative reaction. It is acceptable when you cannot vent your irritation, for example, on your manager, or if you assume that your anger will only worsen an already tense situation. As a result, you will achieve freedom from anger without risking anything.

“Grounding” - imagine: anger enters you from your opponent as a beam of negative energy. Then imagine how this energy descends into your feet and flows freely into the earth.

The method of “reducing your opponent in height” - imagine that during communication your opponent is so reduced in height that he turns into a lump of dirt that you can step in, and his voice becomes weaker and weaker. As a result, he will seem less significant and influential.

“Mood” method - take colored markers or pencils and, with a relaxed left hand, begin to draw any design: lines, spots, shapes, etc. Try to completely immerse yourself in your experiences, i.e. choose and draw lines in accordance with your mood, as if materializing your experiences on paper. After sketching the entire sheet of paper, turn it over and on the reverse side write 8-10 words that reflect your mood (experience). Write the words that come to mind first, without thinking for a long time. Then look at the drawing again, as if reliving your state, re-read the words and tear it apart energetically and with pleasure. Crumple up the torn pieces of paper and throw them in the trash. Together with the discarded drawing, you get rid of your bad mood and find peace.

The “inner ray” method can be used at the initial stage of irritation, when self-control is impaired, psychological contact in communication disappears, and alienation appears. To complete it, you need to relax and imagine the following pictures. A light beam appears at the top of the head, which moves from top to bottom and slowly illuminates the face, neck, shoulders, hands with a warm, even and pleasant light. As the beam moves, wrinkles are smoothed out, tension in the back of the head disappears, folds on the forehead are weakened, eyebrows “fall”, eyes “cool”, clamps in the corners of the lips are loosened, shoulders are lowered, and the neck and chest are freed. A bright inner ray creates the appearance of a new calm, confident and prosperous person.

Exercise: “my house” (“my room”). To implement it, you need to sit down, relax and start building in your imagination your favorite house or room with a view of a river, lake, forest or somewhere else. Arrange it the way you want, imagine your chair, your favorite place in it. Remember it and mentally go into it to rest at any time during the day. Stay in it for 5-7 minutes and you will feel a surge of strength.

There is another way to relieve psychological stress, which is not just to look at the situation that led to this state, but to ask yourself:

“What lessons can I learn from this situation so that I can be prepared for similar events in the future? How can I gain self-confidence if I encounter a similar incident again?” This approach will help you free yourself from negative emotions, as it will teach you to act competently in similar situations and avoid stress.

We have listed only a few methods. Other exercises can be found in the literature. Choose the one that suits you best. Regular use of them will lead to the fact that the anger and irritation that you felt will leave you, and the conflict situation and the opponent may seem insignificant. They will help you move through a crisis productively and feel more balanced and calm.

Literature

1. Psychology and ethics of business communication: Textbook for universities / Ed. prof. V.N. Lavrinenko. — 4th ed., revised. and additional - M.: UNITY-DANA, 2005.
2. Grigorieva T.G., Linskaya L.V., Usoltseva T.P. Fundamentals of constructive communication. Methodological manual for teachers.
3. Tarasenko L.V. Psychotechnics of communication. - M.: Social and humanitarian knowledge, 2008.
4. Sheinov V.P. Conflicts in our lives and their resolution. M.: “Amalthea”, 1997.

Intrapersonal conflict

One of the most difficult types. Intrapersonal conflict seems to split a person into two camps (or even more). His opponent is always next to him, this is the difficulty.

Intrapersonal conflict can be motivational, moral, role, between desires and reality, adaptation, due to inadequate self-esteem. It may manifest itself:

• neurasthenic conditions (irritability, depression, sleep problems, headache, decreased performance);
• euphoria (hysterical laughter, ostentatious fun);
• regression (return to behavior of an earlier age or even primitive forms, avoidance of responsibility);
• projection (unfounded criticism of others, attributing one’s negative qualities to them);
• nomadism (frequent changes in any area of ​​life, instability);
• rationalism (self-justification of any of one’s actions).

The positive effects of intrapersonal conflict include (if successfully overcome):

• mobilization and activation of personal resources;
• self-knowledge and formation of adequate self-esteem;
• “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger”;
• self-development and self-actualization of personality;
• enrichment of the inner world.

The negative consequences of intrapersonal conflict include (if unfavorable overcoming):

• personality disorganization;
• decreased productivity;
• developmental cessation or degradation;
• aggression or submission of a person, or another defensive reaction (read more about this in the article “Mechanisms of psychological defense of the individual”);
• doubts, anxiety, depression, depression and other mental disorders;
• loss of meaning in life;
• feeling of one's own inferiority and worthlessness.

In a group, such a person appears distant, asocial, inattentive, rude or disorganized, silent, and sensitive to criticism.

Main types of conflicting personalities

Types of human temperament and their brief characteristics

Frequent physical and psycho-emotional stress can lead to the development of stress. This negatively affects a person’s overall well-being, appearance, mood and health. Experts identify 5 main types of conflicting personalities.

Rigid

Due to high self-esteem and touchiness, they often neglect the opinions and interests of others, which leads to serious conflict situations. People with a rigid type are unceremonious, self-centered, straightforward, rude, and have an inflated sense of justice. In this regard, they often have serious conflict situations. They regard praise as a given, while at the same time they perceive any criticism as an insult.

Ultra-precise

They are very demanding of themselves and the people around them, too suspicious, distrustful, overly anxious and picky about little things. Outwardly, they are very balanced, and practically do not show a palette of emotions. Real relationships in the group are well assessed. Sometimes they stop communicating with friends because they think that they once offended them. As a result, diseases arise: migraines, dizziness, insomnia, increased nervousness.

Ungovernable

Characterized by excessive impulsiveness and lack of self-control skills. Aggressive, defiant behavior. People do not tolerate criticism and are capable of blaming others for their failures. It is extremely difficult to implement your plans with an uncontrollable personality type.

Conflict-free

People with a conflict-free personality find it difficult to express their opinion, they have low self-esteem, they are afraid of any disputes and confrontations, they do not have sufficient willpower, they do not analyze their own actions, as a result of which they often cause aggression, misunderstanding and irritation in others.

If you are interested in conflicting personality types, thematic drawings can be found in the textbook, specialized literature or on websites

Demonstrative

Representatives of this personality type always want to be the very first in everything, they love to constantly be in the center of attention. They are quite emotional, so they often initiate disputes and confrontations, rarely plan their activities, and quickly adapt to any living conditions.

Important! The level of aspirations influences the definition of an ideal long-term goal and the desired level of self-esteem of an individual. High self-esteem usually causes a negative reaction from others, while low self-esteem results in increased anxiety, lack of self-confidence, avoidance of responsibility, etc.

Organizational conflicts

Conflicts between participants in one or more organizations can be caused by external and internal factors. External ones include:

• unstable socio-economic situation in the country or unfavorable conditions;
• changes in laws, payments, allowances, benefits;
• changes in the legal capabilities of workers.

Internal factors include:

• destructive leadership style;
• silence, unwillingness to fulfill duties, violation of workers' rights;
• active activity of informal leaders;
• changing the production process without taking into account the interests of workers.

Signs of conflict in an organization include:

• official or unofficial facts of personal humiliation;
• sudden change of responsibilities (often without taking into account the interests of the employee);
• hackwork, evasion of orders from superiors;
• insults;
• division into informal groups;
• formalism;
• depression of individual workers;
• negative feedback from employees.

It is solved by choosing a third party to manage the conflict and eliminate its causes, especially if they are normative in nature. An approximate course of resolving such a conflict will be presented below.

Forms of ending the conflict

The conflict can be resolved, settled, extinguished, eliminated or transformed into another conflict.

Permission

It occurs under the condition that the participants are committed to completely solving the problem and eliminating opposition. It takes place in several stages:

1. Identification of conflicting parties.
2. Identifying the personal characteristics, motives, goals and interests of each of them.
3. Identifying the true cause.
4. Determining the intentions of the parties and their understanding of the situation.
5. Collection of opinions of persons not directly involved in the conflict, but interested in its successful resolution.
6. Choosing the optimal strategy for resolving the conflict. When choosing, it is important to take into account the nature of the reason, the characteristics of the participants, and the focus on improving relationships.

Settlement

It assumes the involvement of an independent third party in the process of ending the conflict. At the same time, it is important for him to be as impartial as possible. As a result of the settlement, it is possible to increase the trust of the parties, establish direct contact between them, organize a joint calm discussion, and act in the interests of resolving the conflict. The process also occurs in several stages:

1. Finding out the causes, not the causes, of the conflict.
2. Determining the authority of the third party.
3. Finding out the motives of the conflicting parties (why they are in conflict).

Attenuation

It involves the transition of an open conflict to a hidden one, that is, it is the cessation of opposition, but the preservation of tension. The conflict may fade due to:

• exhaustion of the parties;
• loss of motive, significance of the object;
• abstraction of the parties (other problems arose, the conflict faded into the background).

Elimination

It involves eliminating a conflict situation (conditions, social situation predisposing to conflict) and an incident (actions of opponents). For example, an employee may be transferred to another workshop.

Transformation

In the process of interaction, the motives and interests of the parties change, which gives rise to a new object of conflict. Sometimes transformation appears against the backdrop of an incompletely resolved conflict.

62. Structure of the conflict

Object of conflict

- this is a value that can satisfy a need, due to the mastery of which a conflict arises. Values ​​can be:

a) material;

b) social;

c) spiritual.

Participants in the conflict

, which can be individuals, social groups, organizations, states, coalitions of states.

Depending on the role of the participant in the conflict, there are:

1) opposing parties or opponents are the main participants in the conflict, forming its core. The withdrawal of one of the opponents from the confrontation ends the conflict. The most important characteristics of the warring parties are their physical, social, material and intellectual capabilities, skills and abilities;

2) an instigator is an individual, organization or state that pushes another participant into a conflict. The instigator himself may then not participate in this conflict; his task is limited to provoking, unleashing a conflict between other individuals (groups);

3) accomplice - a person who contributes to the conflict with advice, technical assistance and other means;

4) an organizer is an individual or group who plans a conflict, outlines its development, provides for various ways to ensure and protect participants, etc. The organizer can be one person with the opposing side, but can also be an independent figure.

The social and psychological significance of the participants in the conflict may be different.

Types of conflicts by the nature of the parties:

1) intrapersonal - one aspect of personality opposes another aspect of it (Hamlet’s conflict);

2) interpersonal - one personality opposes another (the conflict between Ivan Ivanovich and Ivan Nikiforovich in Gogol’s story);

3) conflict of the personality-group type (presented by Griboyedov in his play “Woe from Wit”);

4) conflict group - group, the carriers of which can be both small and large social formations, for example, nations, classes, states.

Conditions of conflict

– specific historical socio-psychological conditions in which the conflict unfolds, the social environment.

Social environment

- the ground on which the conflict arises and develops, including not only the immediate, but also the distant, broader environment of the conflicting parties, the large social groups to which they belong, national or class, as well as society as a whole.

Subjective perception or image of conflict

, which is created by individuals or groups acting in a given conflict situation. The image of the conflict may not correspond to the true state of affairs. These images are the immediate basis for the behavior of conflictants.

Types of images, perceptions:

a) ideas about themselves;

b) the perception of other participants in the conflict;

c) images of the external environment, large and small, in which the conflict unfolds.

To start a conflict, it is necessary to implement images, perceptions, and ideas about the conflict situation in appropriate mutual actions.

The methods of action and behavior of the parties to the conflict depend on the objective and subjective causes of the conflict that arise both on its near and distant approaches, as well as on the composition of the participants. In the process of conflict, interaction between participants occurs: the actions of one of the participants cause corresponding opposition from the other.

Psychology bookap

Determining the temporal, spatial and systemic boundaries of the conflict is an important prerequisite for successful regulation and prevention of its destructive outcome.

Conflict is a long-term process, since it takes time for the causes to mature, the formation of the composition of the participants in the conflict, their interaction and one or another outcome of the conflict.

When the conflict is considered intractable and unmanageable

A conflict is considered intractable when:

• participants perceive it as a struggle;
• participants consider the interests of the parties to be mutually exclusive;
• the participants initially have different values ​​or interpretations of the conflict, which is what causes disagreements;
• The parties are social institutions (for example, family and school).

A conflict is considered unmanageable when:

• the parties are determined to maintain the conflict;
• constructive interaction is impossible due to the emotional intensity or characteristics of the participants;
• the conflict that has arisen is part of the subjects’ broad rejection of each other.

How to manage conflict

If you want to become a third party mediator in resolving a conflict, here are 16 simple steps to manage conflict:

1. Based on the information you have, present a general picture of the conflict and determine the essence, assess the needs and interests of both parties.
2. Have a conversation with the participant whose position seems more justified to you. Find out his vision of reasons, fears and desires. From his words, compose his vision of the opponent’s interests, desires and fears.
3. Talk to the second opponent in the same way.
4. Have a conversation with your first opponent's friends. They will help you create a more accurate picture of your interests, fears and aspirations.
5. Do the same with the friends of the second opponent.
6. Discuss the vision of the conflict (reasons, methods of regulation and possible consequences) with the informal leaders of the group.
7. Discuss with formal leaders.
8. Find out the real reason and distance yourself from the participants.
9. Identify their subconscious motives.
10. Indicate where each opponent is right and what is wrong.
11. Describe the possible best and worst possible outcome of the situation for each position. Find out if a compromise is possible.
12. Assess all possible, including hidden, consequences of your intervention.
13. Prepare and propose approximately four options for joint efforts of opponents to solve the problem. Moreover, there is a maximum program and a minimum program.
14. Discuss programs with friends and leaders, make changes if necessary.
15. Stick to your chosen plan, try to involve your opponents' friends.
16. Evaluate the positive and negative aspects of your experience.

As you may have noticed, this is a general plan for resolving conflict, universal for different species. Of course, it needs to be adjusted taking into account the specific situation and type of conflict. In its pure form, it is more suitable for resolving organizational conflicts.

Topic 1. The concept of conflict in social psychology

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Topic 2. Conflict resolution

The founders of the doctrine of conflict relations in society are considered to be Heraclitus, Socrates, and Plato. Subsequently, Hegel with his theory of contradictions and the struggle of opposites began to be included among them.

Modern conflictology began to develop more intensively at the beginning of the twentieth century in the depths of sociology (G. Simmel, L. Gumilovich, L. Smelley). Later - R. Dahrendorf, K. Horney and others.

Over the course of a certain time, Western experts have created both major theories (within the framework of sociology, psychoanalysis, and conflictology itself), explaining the nature, essence and content of this phenomenon, and less significant ones (mainly of an instrumental nature), paying attention to the study of the characteristics of people’s behavior in conflict and the specifics of its course.

Domestic psychologists and sociologists currently studying the conflict are A.Ya. Antsupov, N.V. Grishina, N.N. Obozov, A.I. Shipilov and others.

Conflict is a relationship between subjects of social interaction that is characterized by their confrontation based on opposing motives (needs, interests, goals, ideals, beliefs) or judgments (opinions, views, assessments, etc.).

Signs of conflict:

1. conflict always exists on the basis of opposing motives or judgments.

2. conflict is always a confrontation between subjects of social interaction, which is characterized by causing mutual damage (moral, material, physical, psychological, etc.).

Causes of conflicts:

General: socio-political and economic, socio-demographic, socio-psychological, individual psychological, for example:

inadequate self-esteem and inadequate ideas of people, inconsistency of social roles,

group discrimination.

Private (directly related to a specific type of conflict), for example:

violation of professional ethics,

poor communications,

limited resources to be distributed.

The positive functions of conflict include:

— detente between conflicting parties,

- informational and connecting function (people can check and get to know each other better),

— consolidation and structuring of organizations,

- stimulation for change and development,

- removal of the syndrome of resignation (as a conflict develops, people begin to express ideas that they had previously hidden),

— diagnostic function.

The negative functions of conflict include:

- large emotional and material costs of resolving the conflict,

- exclusion from the team, group, dismissal of employees, decrease in labor productivity or training, deterioration of the socio-psychological climate in the team or group,

- reduction in the degree of cooperation between the parties in the future or its complete cessation,

- inadequate (inflated) perception of one’s group, collective in relation to other groups, the idea of ​​other groups as an enemy,

— affirmation of the spirit of confrontation of an organization, group or society as a whole.

Classification of conflicts depending on:

— methods of resolution: antagonistic and compromise;

— nature of occurrence: social, organizational and emotional,

— directions of influence: vertical and horizontal;

— the predominance of consequences for the participants: constructive, destructive,

— degrees of expression: open, hidden and potential;

- number of participants: intrapersonal, interpersonal, between an individual and a group, intergroup.

An important characteristic of a conflict is its dynamics. Dynamics as a phenomenon is reflected in two concepts: stages of conflict and phases of conflict.

The stages of the conflict reflect the essential points that characterize the development of the conflict from its occurrence to resolution. Knowledge of the main content of each stage of the conflict is important for its prediction, assessment, and selection of technology for managing this conflict.

Main stages of the conflict:

1. The emergence and development of a conflict situation.

2. Awareness of a conflict situation by at least one of the participants in social interaction and his emotional experience of this fact.

3. The beginning of open conflict interaction.

4. Development of open conflict.

5. Conflict resolution.

The phases of the conflict are related to its stages and reflect the dynamics of the conflict from the point of view of the real possibilities of its resolution.

Main phases of the conflict:

1. initial phase,

2. lifting phase,

3. peak of conflict,

4. decline phase.

Conflict management can be viewed in two aspects: internal and external.

The first of them is to manage one’s own behavior in conflict interactions. This aspect is psychological in nature and relates to the self-regulation of emotional states.

The external aspect of conflict management reflects the organizational and technological aspects of this complex process, in which the subject of management can be a manager (manager), a leader or an intermediary (mediator).

Conflict management concept

The concept of “management” has a very wide scope of application: “management of self-organizing systems”, “management of technical systems”, “management of society”, etc.

In relation to social systems, management is a purposeful process of optimizing these systems in accordance with objective laws.

Conflict management is a purposeful, conditioned by objective laws, influence on its dynamics in the interests of the development or destruction of the social system to which the conflict is related.

In a constructive manner, the main goal of conflict management would be to prevent destructive conflicts and facilitate adequate resolution of constructive ones. Conflict management as a complex process includes the following activities:

· forecasting conflicts, assessing their functional orientation;

· preventing or stimulating conflict;

· conflict management;

· conflict resolution.

Table. The content of conflict management and its dynamics.

No.	Conflict stage	Contents of management
Emergence and development of a conflict situation	Prediction Prevention Promotion
Awareness of the conflict situation by at least one of the participants	Prevention Stimulation
The Beginning of Open Conflict Interaction	Regulations
Development of open conflict	Regulation
Conflict resolution	Permission

Forecasting conflict

- this is one of the most important activities of the subject of management, it is aimed at identifying the causes of this conflict in potential development. The main sources for predicting conflicts are the study of objective and subjective conditions and factors of interaction between people, as well as their individual psychological characteristics. In a team, for example, such conditions and factors may be: management style; level of social tension; socio-psychological climate; leadership and microgroups and other socio-psychological phenomena. A special place in predicting conflicts is occupied by the constant analysis of both general and specific causes of conflicts.

Conflict Prevention

- this is a type of activity of a management subject aimed at preventing the emergence of a conflict.
Conflict prevention is based on their forecasting. In this case, based on the information received about the causes of the maturing unwanted conflict, active efforts are undertaken to neutralize the effect of the entire complex of factors determining it. This is the so-called forced form
of conflict prevention.

But conflicts can be prevented by generally effective management of the social system. In this case, conflict management (including conflict prevention) is an integral part of the overall management process in this system. The main ways to prevent conflicts in organizations can be:

· constant concern for meeting the needs and requests of employees;

· selection and placement of employees taking into account their individual psychological characteristics;

· compliance with the principle of social justice in any decisions affecting the interests of the team and the individual;

· education of employees, formation of a high psychological and pedagogical culture of communication, etc.

This form of conflict prevention, unlike the previous one, can be called preventive.

Stimulating conflict -

This is a type of activity of the subject of management, aimed at provoking, causing conflict. Incentives are justified in relation to constructive conflicts. Means of stimulating conflicts can be very different: bringing up a problematic issue for discussion at a meeting, meeting, seminar, etc.; criticism of the current situation at the meeting; speaking with critical material in the media, etc. But when stimulating a particular conflict, the leader must be ready to manage it constructively. This is a necessary condition in conflict management; violation of it, as a rule, leads to dire consequences.

Conflict management

- this is a type of activity of a management subject aimed at weakening and limiting the conflict, ensuring its development towards resolution. Regulation as a complex process involves a number of stages that are important to consider in management activities.

Stage I. Recognition of the reality of the conflict by the conflicting parties.

Stage II. Legitimization of the conflict , that is, reaching an agreement between the conflicting parties on the recognition and compliance with established norms and rules of conflict interaction.

Stage III. Institutionalization of conflict , that is, the creation of appropriate bodies and working groups to regulate conflict interaction.

Conflict resolution

- this is the type of activity of the subject of management associated with the end of the conflict. Resolution is the final stage of conflict management.

Conflict resolution can be complete

and
incomplete.
Complete resolution of the conflict is achieved by eliminating the causes, the subject of the conflict and conflict situations. Incomplete conflict resolution occurs when not all causes or conflict situations are eliminated.

In this case, incomplete resolution of the conflict may be a stage on the way to its complete resolution.

Table. Conflict resolution technology

Name	Main content
Information	Eliminating the lack of information in a conflict, eliminating false distorted information from the information field, eliminating rumors, etc.
Communication	Organizing communication between subjects of conflict interaction and their supporters, ensuring effective communication
Socio-Psychological	Working with informal leaders and microgroups, reducing social tension and strengthening the socio-psychological climate in the team
Organizational	Solving personnel issues, using the method of reward and punishment, changing the conditions of interaction between employees.

Prerequisites for conflict resolution:

1. sufficient maturity of the conflict;

2. the need of the subjects of the conflict to resolve it;

3. availability of necessary means and resources to resolve the conflict.

Forms of conflict resolution:

• destruction or complete subjugation of one of the parties (assignment);

• coordination of interests and positions of conflicting parties on a new basis (compromise, consensus);

• mutual reconciliation of conflicting parties (withdrawal);

• transferring the struggle into cooperation to jointly overcome contradictions (cooperation)

Methods for resolving conflicts:

• administrative (dismissal, transfer to another job, court decision;

• pedagogical (conversation, persuasion, request, explanation, etc.).

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Conflict Prevention

Prevention is always more effective than elimination. Therefore, they offer several methods to reduce the tension of the situation:

1. Consent, or common cause. If it is obvious that, for example, a conflict is brewing between children, then they need to be united in something that satisfies the interests of both. Being passionate, they will find other common topics and learn to collaborate.
2. Development of empathy, the ability to empathize.
3. Forming a respectful attitude and understanding of the value of each individual.
4. Relying on your opponent's strengths. It's important to highlight the differences, but in a positive way. “I know how to present material creatively; you can arrange it in a structured way.”
5. Relieving psychological stress with the help of “strokes” (holidays, presentations, joint recreation).

You need to undergo trainings yourself or the organizers conduct trainings, events, courses on the general development and strengthening of interpersonal relationships, improving communication skills.