Conflict Management
What is conflict? Conflict is an ongoing condition of antagonism between two or more
people. A clash of interests, principles, actions, or instructions often sparks a conflict.
Conflict and simple disagreements are frequently confused but are definitely not the same.
Different opinions on facts, interpretation of reality, and placing of blame are examples of
simple disagreements which initially may be just an exchange of words, but could escalate
to conflict. If the persons involved can not sustain respect for each other beliefs, then
simple disagreements may turn into conflict. Conflict is inevitable because of individual
differences. Conflict arises when the assumption is “if you get what you want, I cant get
what I want”“. When two or more parties want the same thing or outcome, conflict arises.
You and a co-worker want a promotion, but there is only one opening for the position.
Hence, a conflict begins to emerge and conflict management techniques have to be
executed.
There are four levels of conflict: intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup and intergroup.
Intrapersonal conflict occurs within an individual such as deciding which job offer to take
or what to order from a menu. A conflict between two persons is interpersonal. Examples
of interpersonal conflict are a couple deciding on what restaurant to dine in or what play to
attend. Conflicts between group members are intragroup ie., deciding on a new group
name or annual trip. Intergroup conflicts occur between two or more groups such as group
competitions or contests. It is imperative to distinguish between the levels of conflict in
order to know how to resolve or manage the disagreement.
Content, decisional, role, material, expectancy, judgmental, and ego are the seven types of
conflict. Content conflict is over dissimilar beliefs of facts therefore, obtaining more
information on the subject leads to resolution of the conflict. An example of content
conflict is determining who won last night baseball game. The results may be obtained
from the internet or the newspaper. Decisional conflict is the uncertainty about which
course of action to take in a situation which involves challenges, regrets or risks (i.e. a
health decision on having surgery or medical management). Normally, decisional conflict
is intrapersonal and it is vital to assess all options before making a judgment. Role conflict
is when a person is expected to play two irreconcilable parts such as the difficulty a boss
would encounter having to fire a family member. Also,role conflict occurs when the
