Navigating Interpersonal Conflict- Understanding Communication and Resolution

Navigating Interpersonal Conflict- Understanding Communication and Resolution

Defining conflict

Conflict is a disagreement between two or more people, with every group or individual trying to get their views accepted. Mack (2018) defines it as the expression of negative attitudes, hostility, aggression, misunderstanding, and rivalry. Robbins (2005), on the other hand, describes it as a process that starts where one party assumes that another party is about to negatively affect or has negatively affected something that the first party cares about. According to Hussein & Al-Mamary (2019), a conflict is a form of disagreement, discord, or friction arising within a group when the actions or beliefs of one or more group members are either unacceptable or resisted by a specific member or members of another group.

Describe communication behaviours that can lead to conflict.

Communication plays a vital role in the management of relationships and the peaceful coexistence of individuals. Certain communication behaviours may, therefore, lead to conflict. One of these behaviours is ignoring others during a conversation. Another behaviour is intimidating others during a conversation by using negative comments to criticize what they say. Using a loud voice can also lead to conflict because it may be regarded as rude and disrespectful. Another significant communication behaviour that could lead to conflict is cutting a person short before saying what they intended to say. Conflict can also arise from offensive facial expressions such as sneering.

Explain how communication behaviours affect interpersonal relationships. Be sure to consider communication behaviours in a variety of situations.

Ignoring others during a conversation may create an emeriti between individuals or groups. For instance, in business meetings, an employee who is constantly ignored during business meetings may develop a negative perception towards other employers hence preventing him or her from interacting with them. Ignorance may arise from failure to be listened to, where an individual is dismissed whenever they want to say something or people failing to listen to what a person has to say by redirecting their attention to other things when the individual is speaking. Intimidating others using negative comments and using a loud voice may affect interpersonal relationships by creating friction between parties. For example, if a person feels intimidated by another party, he or she may want to take revenge hence creating conflict between the parties as each of them is determined to win. Intimidation may also make the party who feels intimidated stop interacting with others, thus limiting interpersonal relationships. Cutting a person short before they finish saying what they intend to say may affect interpersonal relationships by creating a perception of disrespect, where the interrupted individual may feel like he or she is not respected and, hence, refrain from contributing to any discussions. Sneering may create enmity among groups and individuals because it is considered to be an expression of rudeness and despise. For instance, when an employer sneers when an employee is talking to him or her, the employee may perceive that the employer is looking down on him or her hence creating enmity.

Explain how differences in gender, age, culture, race, and so on can contribute to interpersonal conflict.

Individual differences can contribute to interpersonal conflict by threatening individual status, eliminating trust and discrimination, and creating incivility. For instance, minority groups may feel that their status is threatened, particularly when they are not involved in decision-making. Individual differences may also create discrimination, hence creating interpersonal conflict. Lack of trust may arise from stereotypes associated with specific cultures, such as perceiving Arabs as terrorists, thus creating interpersonal conflict. Individual differences may also create incivility, whereby individuals are not concerned about one another. For instance, individuals may be less concerned about minority groups and disrespect them because of their position in society. Elmagri & Eaton (2011) argues that incivility may also be expressed through selfishness and sarcasm.

Recommend at least one strategy that can be used to resolve interpersonal conflict.

Interpersonal conflict can be resolved through collaboration. This conflict management style focuses on creating a win-win outcome where all conflicting parties are satisfied. It includes having an honest discussion about the issues creating conflict and listening to all parties to explore various alternatives and maintain a conducive environment where everyone feels comfortable to express their concerns. Bercovitch (2019) argues that this style effectively resolves conflict because everyone’s feedback is considered, and all parties are satisfied with the outcome.

References

Bercovitch, J. (2019). The nature of conflict and conflict management. Social Conflicts and Third Parties, 2-18. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429306259-1

Elmagri, M. I., & Eaton, D. (2011). Identifying the Factors Causing Interpersonal Conflict in Organisations. The Built & Human Environment Review, 4(1).

Hussein, A. F., & Al-Mamary, Y. H. (2019). Conflicts: Their Types, and Their Negative and Positive Effects On Organizations. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 8(8).

Mačák, K. (2018). Complex conflict situations. Oxford Scholarship Online. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198819868.003.0003

Robbins, S. P. (2005). Organizational behaviour. Prentice Hall.

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Write a 2-3 page article on interpersonal conflict. Define conflict and explain how communication behaviours and individual differences contribute to interpersonal conflict.

Navigating Interpersonal Conflict- Understanding Communication and Resolution

Recommend a strategy for resolving interpersonal conflict.