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Copyright ©2017, 2014, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1
Chapter 8: Conflict Management Skills
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
8.1 Define interpersonal conflict.
8.2 Identify commonly held myths about interpersonal conflict.
8.3 Compare and contrast three types of interpersonal conflict.
8.4 Describe the relationship between conflict and power.
8.5 Describe five conflict management styles.
8.6 Identify and use conflict management skills to help manage emotions, information, goals,
and problems when attempting to resolve interpersonal differences.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Conflict Defined
Learning Objective 8.1: Define interpersonal conflict.
A. Interpersonal conflict is an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent
people who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, or interference in the
achievement of their goals.
B. Conflict Elements
1. An Expressed Struggle
a. You typically do not know that someone is upset with you until he or she
expresses it verbally or nonverbally.
2. Between at Least Two Interdependent People
a. You are more likely to have conflict with people you spend time with because
you are connected to them in some way.
b. Interdependence is a condition in which people are dependent on each other,
and one person’s actions affect the other person.
3. Incompatible Goals, Scarce Resources, and Interference
a. Conflict often happens because two people want the same thing but both cannot
have it, or what one person wants is the opposite of what the other wants.
b. When resources are scarce, tension is more likely.
4. Achieving a Goal
a. People in conflict are generally goal oriented—they want something. Most
problems boil down to something you want more of or less of.
C. Conflict Triggers
1. Conflict triggers are the common perceived causes of interpersonal conflict.
2. Criticism
a. Receiving criticism is one of the most frequently mentioned conflict triggers, and
gender and generation can impact these triggers.
3. Feeling Entitled
a. If we believe we are entitled to something and we are denied getting what we
think is ours, then conflict is a likely result.
4. Perceived Lack of Fairness
a. If we believe we have not been treated fairly or equitably, conflict is likely.
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5. More Perceived Costs Than Rewards
a. When one person feels that he or she is getting less out of the relationship than
the other person, conflict may ensue.
6. Different Perspectives
a. People may have different perspectives about power (who is in charge), social
issues (such as politics and religion), personal flaws (such as using drugs or
alcohol, smoking, or laziness), distrust (concern about whether one person is
telling the truth), intimacy (differences about the frequency and timing of sex),
and personal distance (as evidenced by the amount of time each person commits
to the relationship).
7. Stress and Lack of Rest
a. Not being at your physical best, such as being tired, stressed, or overworked, are
situations that are likely to trigger disagreement.
8. Dialectical Tensions
a. A dialectical tension is tension arising from a person’s need for two things at the
same time.
b. People may desire to be both separate from others and connected to them at the
same time.
c. People may want and need various degrees of both openness and closedness in
our relationships.
In-Text Opportunity for Classroom Discussion
Communication and Emotion: Do You Know What Your “Hot Buttons” Are?
Hot buttons are things that people say and do that trigger conflict. In this feature, students are
encouraged to individually reflect and write about two to three “hot buttons.” Afterward, have
students write about what they do when their “hot buttons” are pushed. Then hold a class
discussion about the benefits of using some of the strategies as ways to manage emotions when
“hot buttons” are pushed.
D. Conflict as a Process
1. Most relational disagreements have a source, a beginning, a middle, an end, and an
aftermath.
2. Source: Prior Conditions
a. The first phase in the conflict process is the one that sets the stage for
disagreements—it begins when you become aware of differences between you
and another person.
3. Beginning: Frustration Awareness
a. In this stage at least one person becomes aware that the differences in the
relationship are increasingly problematic.
4. Middle: Active Conflict
a. When you bring your frustration to the attention of others, a conflict becomes an
active, expressed struggle.
5. End: Resolution
a. When you begin to try to manage the conflict, it has progressed to the resolution
stage.
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6. Aftermath: Follow-up
a. The follow-up stage involves dealing with hurt feelings or managing simmering
grudges and checking with the other person to confirm that the conflict has not
retreated into the frustration awareness stage.
i. Conflict is constructive when it helps build new insights and establishes new
patterns in a relationship.
ii. Conflict is destructive when it dismantles, rather than strengthens,
relationships.
II. Conflict Myths
Learning Objective 6.2: Identify commonly held myths about interpersonal conflict.
A. Myth 1: Conflict Is Always a Sign of a Poor Interpersonal Relationship
1. It is an oversimplification to assume that all conflict is rooted in underlying relational
problems.
2. Overly polite, stilted conversation is more likely to signal a problem than are periodic
disagreements.
3. In fact, the free expression of honest disagreement is a hallmark of a healthy
relationship.
B. Myth 2: Conflict Can Always Be Avoided
1. Many of us learned that conflict is unnatural and that we should eliminate it from our
conversations and relationships.
2. Evidence suggests that conflict arises in virtually every relationship.
3. Contentment in marriage relates not to the amount of conflict, but to the way in which
partners manage it.
C. Myth 3: Conflict Always Occurs Because of Misunderstandings
1. Conflicts do sometimes flare up because of a lack of understanding, but there are
times when individuals simply have different needs or goals.
2. These differences, not lack of understanding, are the source of the conflict.
D. Myth 4: Conflict Can Always Be Resolved
1. Not all disagreements can be resolved by listening harder or paraphrasing your
partner’s message.
2. Some disagreements are so intense, and the perceptions so fixed, that individuals may
have to agree to disagree and live with it.
III. Conflict Types
Learning Objective 8.3: Compare and contrast three types of interpersonal conflict.
A. Psuedoconflict: Misunderstandings
1. Pseudoconflict occurs from a lack of understanding and miscommunication.
2. Unless we clear up the misunderstanding by asking for more information, a real
conflict might ensue.
3. Strategies for minimizing misunderstandings include checking your perceptions,
listening between the lines for nonverbal cues of misunderstanding, and establishing a
supportive, rather than a defensive, climate.
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B. Simple Conflict: Different Stands on the Issues
1. Simple conflict stems from differences in ideas, definitions, perceptions, or goals.
2. A key to unraveling a simple conflict is to keep the conversation focused on the
issues at hand so that the expression of differences does not deteriorate into a battle
focusing on personalities.
3. Several strategies can keep a simple conflict from escalating to personal attacks.
a. Clarify your and your partner’s understanding of the issue(s).
b. Keep the discussion focused on facts.
c. Look for more than just the initial solutions that you and your partner discuss.
d. Don’t try to tackle too many issues at once.
e. Find the kernel of truth in what your partner is saying.
f. If tempers begin to flare and conflict is escalating, cool off.
In-Text Opportunity for Classroom Discussion
Relating to Diverse Others: Gender and Conflict
Gender differences can influence how conflict is managed. Researchers have found differences
based on whether a person has a feminine or masculine style of conflict management. Have
students individually read the differences between the two styles. Then, have students discuss
with a partner which style they align with most and how that has influenced the way in which
they approach and handle conflict.
C. Ego Conflict: Conflict Gets Personal
1. Ego conflict occurs when the original issue is ignored as partners attack each other’s
self-esteem.
2. As each person in the conflict becomes more defensive about his or her position, the
issues become more entangled.
3. Partners can try to implement several strategies when conflict becomes personal.
a. Try to steer the ego conflict back to simple conflict.
b. Make the issue a problem to be solved rather than a battle to be won.
c. Write down what you want to say.
d. Vow not to reciprocate when things get personal.
e. Avoid contempt.
IV. Conflict and Power
Learning Objective 6.4: Describe the relationship between conflict and power.
A. Interpersonal power is the degree to which a person is able to influence his or her
partner.
B. Power Principles
1. Power Exists in All Relationships
a. When you talk, you are attempting to exert power over other people, even if it is
just to get them to listen to you.
2. Power Derives from the Ability to Meet a Person’s Needs
a. If you can meet someone’s needs, then you have power.
b. In a dependent relationship, one person has a greater desire for the other partner
to meet his or her needs.
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3. Both People in a Relationship Have Some Power
a. When two people are satisfying each other’s needs, they create an interdependent
relationship; each person in the relationship has some amount of power over the
other.
4. Power Is Circumstantial
a. Because our needs change, so does our power.
5. Power Is Negotiated
a. Partners often negotiate which individual will have decision-making
responsibility over what issues.
C. Power Sources
1. Legitimate power is power that is based on respect for a person’s position.
2. Referent power comes from our attraction to another person, or the charisma a
person possesses.
3. Expert power is based on a person’s knowledge and experience.
4. Reward power is based on a person’s ability to satisfy our needs.
5. Coercive power is based on the use of sanctions or punishments to influence others.
D. Power to Persuade
1. Compliance gaining involves taking actions in interpersonal relationships to gain
something from our partners—to get others to comply with our goals.
2. People with more power can be more efficient in gaining compliance by using simple,
more direct (and sometimes inappropriate) strategies to accomplish their goals.
3. Compliance-gaining strategies are responsive to the ongoing, transactive nature of
interpersonal relationships.
E. Power Negotiation
1. If you realize you don’t have as much power as you would like, you may want to
negotiate the balance of power in a relationship.
2. Problems involve issues of power, control, responsibility, and decision making that
need to be negotiated.
3. Defining who has power can be a source of conflict in interpersonally relationships.
4. Ideally, partners negotiate a mutually acceptable and rewarding power relationship.
5. To negotiate or renegotiate power in a relationship, consider both your needs and
your partner’s needs.
V. Conflict Management Styles
Learning Objective 8.5: Describe five conflict management styles.
A. Conflict management style is a consistent pattern or approach you use to manage
disagreement with others.
1. We learn conflict resolution patterns early in life.
2. Conflict styles include two primary dimensions: concern for others and concern for
self.
3. These dimensions result in five conflict management styles.
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B. Avoidance
1. Avoidance is managing conflict by backing off and trying to sidestep it.
2. This is sometimes called the “lose-lose” approach.
3. People may avoid conflict because they do not like the hassle of dealing with a
difficult situation, they do not want to hurt others’ feelings, or they are unable to
stand up for their own rights.
4. Evidence suggests that husbands are more likely to avoid confrontation as a way of
managing conflict with their wives.
5. One characteristic of the avoidant style is the demand-withdrawal pattern of
conflict management, which is a communication pattern in which one person makes
a demand and the other person avoids conflict by changing the subject or just walking
away.
a. The demand-withdrawal communication pattern results in lower levels of
relationship satisfaction.
b. Avoiding conflict could be perceived as uncooperative.
i. Avoiding conflict may, however, offer the benefits of allowing time for each
person to think about the issues, cool down, and ponder other ways to deal
with the problem, or not to make a mountain out of a molehill.
c. Avoiding conflict can also allow each person to save face.
i. Disadvantages of avoiding conflict include sending a message that you do not
care about the other person’s feelings; making things worse by allowing an
unresolved conflict to simmer; allowing the conflict to remain unresolved.
C. Accommodation
1. Accommodation is managing conflict by giving in to the demands of others.
2. People may adopt an accommodation style because they fear rejection and want
others to like them.
3. This style is sometimes called the “lose-win” approach, because if you consistently
accommodate, you sacrifice you own needs so that someone else can win an
argument.
4. There are some advantages to using the accommodation style.
a. It shows you are reasonable and want to help.
b. You may gain credibility by letting a trivial issue slide.
c. It is appropriate if you are wrong or have made a mistake.
5. There are disadvantages to accommodating.
a. It can give the accommodator a false sense of security by producing a
“pseudosolution” that does not solve, but merely postpones, seeking a solution.
b. Others may take advantage of you if you accommodate consistently because you
diminish your power.
c. By accommodating too quickly, you short-circuit the possibility of finding a
creative solution to everyone’s liking.
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D. Competition
1. Competition is managing conflict by stressing winning at the expense of the other
person involved.
2. This is a “win-lose” philosophy that places the focus on yourself winning and others
losing.
3. People who compete often resort to blaming or seeking a scapegoat rather than
assuming responsibility for a conflict.
4. If blaming does not work, people may resort to threats and warnings.
a. Threats refer to actions that people can actually carry out.
b. Warnings are negative prophecies they cannot actually control.
c. Threats are more powerful than warnings in changing behavior.
5. Competition may be appropriate when you believe your position is the correct
approach and anything short of achieving your goal would be harmful to you and
others.
6. During often-emotional periods of competition, those involved nonetheless need to
maintain an ethical concern for others.
E. Compromise
1. Compromise is managing conflict by attempting to find middle ground.
2. This style is called “lose/win-lose/win,” because each person has to give up a bit of
what he or she hoped to get.
3. Compromise is advantageous if a quick resolution can be reached, if it reinforces the
perception of equal power, if it may provide a temporary solution, and if it may save
face.
4. Compromise may have disadvantages in that no one is pleased with the outcome and
a more collaborative approach may need to be employed.
F. Collaboration
1. Collaboration is managing conflict by using other-oriented strategies so as to
achieve a positive solution for all involved.
2. People who use a collaborative style are more likely to view conflict as a set of
problems to be solved rather than a game in which one person wins and another loses.
3. Collaboration is best used in these circumstances.
a. Those on all sides of the conflict need some new, fresh ideas.
b. Enhanced commitment to a solution is important because all are involved in
shaping the outcome.
c. It is important to establish rapport and a positive relational climate.
d. Emotional feelings are intense.
e. It is important to affirm the value of the interpersonal relationship.
4. Disadvantages of this approach include the time, skill, patience, and energy required.
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In-Text Opportunity for Classroom Discussion
#communicationandtechnology: Conflict Happens
Conflict happens both face to face and online. This feature includes reasons for online conflict,
including flaming (i.e., sending an overly negative online message that personally attacks
another person), and disinhibition effect (i.e., the loss of inhibitions when interacting with
someone online that leads to the tendency to escalate conflict). Strategies for managing online
conflict are also presented. With a partner, have students go through the reasons and strategies
and generate an example that illustrates each bold point.
G. Each style has advantages and disadvantages.
1. There is no single conflict management style that “works” in all situations.
2. Research suggests that most people find the following most uncomfortable: no clear
resolution to a conflict; a conflict management process that is poorly managed; the
avoidance of issues that they would like to discuss
3. When time and other factors permit, a collaborative conflict management style is
worth exploring.
a. A “secure” family that fosters trust, love, and support is likely to use a
collaboration or compromise style as opposed to a competing or avoiding style
during conflict.
b. If one person is “secure” and the other “insecure” in terms of attachment style,
there is likely to be more mutual avoidance and withdrawal from untangling the
issues.
c. People from highly individualistic cultures prefer a conflict management style that
is more direct in addressing the conflict-producing issues.
d. People in collectivistic cultures typically prefer a more indirect approach to
addressing conflict.
e. Our cultural preferences for expressing or restraining our emotions have an
important influence on our preferred conflict management style.
f. People from cultures that emphasize less explicit expression of emotions will find
intense emotional expressions of anger and frustration distracting and
unproductive in managing conflict.
VI. Conflict Management Skills
Learning Objective 8.6: Identify and use conflict management skills to help manage
emotions, information, goals, and problems when attempting to resolve interpersonal
differences.
A. Manage Your Emotions
1. Be Aware That You Are Becoming Angry and Emotionally Volatile
a. Unbridled and uncensored emotional outbursts rarely enhance the quality of an
interpersonal relationship.
b. Be sensitive to what is happening to you physically.
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2. Seek to Understand Why You Are Angry and Emotional
a. Understanding what is behind your anger can help you manage it.
b. Anger is often expressed as a defense when you feel violated or when you are
fearful of losing something that is important to you.
c. Often, you experience a sense of righteous indignation when you are angry; you
are being denied something you feel you should have.
3. Make a Conscious Decision About Whether to Express Your Anger
a. Sometimes there is no other way to let someone know how important an issue is
to you than by forcefully expressing your irritation or anger.
b. When expressing your anger, be direct and descriptive without losing control.
4. Select a Mutually Acceptable Time and Place to Discuss a Conflict
a. If you are upset or tired, you risk becoming emotionally overinvolved.
b. If you ambush someone with an angry attack, you should not expect that person to
be in a receptive state of mind.
c. Allow time for everyone to cool off and gain control of their feelings.
d. Couples who experience an “expressed struggle” conflict are less likely to sleep.
5. Plan Your Message
a. Plan your message by identifying your goal and determining the outcome you
would like.
6. Breathe
a. Breathe deeply and slowly to help calm you and manage the physiological
changes.
b. One of the simplest yet most effective ways to avoid overheating is to breathe.
c. Deep breathing can be a powerful way to restore calmness to your spirit.
7. Monitor Nonverbal Messages
a. Monitor your nonverbal messages by speaking calmly, using direct eye contact,
and maintaining a calm, nonthreatening facial expression.
8. Avoid Personal Attacks, Name Calling, and Emotional Overstatement
a. Using threats and derogatory names may turn a simple conflict into an ego
conflict.
b. People respond to attack by protecting themselves.
c. Try to avoid exaggerating your emotions and hurling negative, personal
comments at your partner.
d. Avoid gunny-sacking, which is dredging up old problems and issues from the
past to use against your partner.
9. Take Time to Establish Rapport
a. Take time to establish rapport by not immediately diving into the problem.
b. Take time to establish a positive emotional climate.
c. A positive emotional climate is especially important when trying to sort through
vexing, conflict-producing issues.
d. It is important to help the other person in the conflict save face.
10. Use Self-Talk
a. The thoughts that are linked to feelings and messages we tell ourselves play a
major role in how we respond to others.
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B. Manage Information
1. Clearly Describe the Conflict-Producing Events
a. Think of delivering a brief, well-organized minispeech.
b. Describe the events dispassionately so that the other person shares your
understanding of the problem.
2. Take Turns Talking
a. Consciously taking turns when discussing a conflict increases the likelihood that
the conflict will be managed effectively.
b. When taking turns, it is important to listen and remain calm when the other person
is speaking.
3. Own” Your Statements by Using Descriptive “I” Language
a. “I” language are statements that use the word “I” to express how the speaker is
feeling.
b. Monitor “but” messages, which are statements using the word but that may
communicate that whatever you have said before but is not really true.
4. Use Effective Listening Skills
a. Give your full attention.
b. Tune out your internal messages.
c. Analyze the information you receive.
5. Check Your Understanding of What Others Say and Do
a. You and your conflict partner’s responses will confirm that you have understood
each other.
b. If you are unsure about facts, issues, or major ideas, ask your partner questions.
6. Be Empathic
a. Place yourself in the other person’s place emotionally.
b. Being other-oriented may help you see new possibilities for managing the
conflict.
C. Manage Goals
1. Identify Your Goal and Your Partner’s Goals
a. Most goals statements can be phrased in terms of wants and desires.
b. Often, individuals face challenges with balancing individual goals with the goal of
maintaining the relationship with their partner.
2. Identify Where Your Goals and Your Partner’s Goals Overlap
a. Framing the conflict as a mutual goal can help move the discussion to a more
productive level.
b. Develop objective, rather than subjective, criteria for evaluating the problem.
In-Text Opportunity for Classroom Discussion
Improving Your Communication Skills: Dealing with Prickly People
This feature presents strategies for managing conflict with difficult people from William Ury’s
book, Getting Past No. Have students complete the exercise independently, in which they
consider a conflict that they have had with a difficult person and identify alternatives for dealing
with that person.
Copyright ©2017, 2014, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
11
D. Manage the Problem
1. Use Principled Negotiation Strategies
a. Separate the people from the problem.
b. Focus on shared interests.
c. Generate many options to solve the problem.
d. Base decisions on objective criteria.
2. Use a Problem-Solving Structure
a. Define the problem.
b. Analyze the problem’s cause and effects.
c. Determine the goals you and your partner seek.
d. Generate multiple options.
e. Select the option that best achieves your goals and the goals of your partner.
3. Develop a Solution That Helps Each Person Save Face
a. The concept of face refers to the self-image or self-respect that you and your
partner seek to maintain.
i. The goal of managing conflict is not just to solve a problem, but to help work
through relational issues with your partner, especially if your partner thinks
he or she has “lost” the conflict.
ii. Sometimes you can offer genuine forgiveness.
iii. Finding ways to be gracious or allow your partner to save face is an
important other-oriented approach to dealing with people.
In-Text Opportunity for Classroom Discussion
Applying an Other-Orientation to Conflict Management
This feature presents five strategies for how to manage differences with others using an other-
oriented approach. Hold a class discussion about ways to realistically apply these strategies in
the “heat of the conflict.”
KEY TERMS
interpersonal conflict,
LO 8.1
interdependent, LO 8.1
conflict trigger, LO 8.1
dialectical tension, LO 8.1
constructive conflict,
LO 8.1
destructive conflict,
LO 8.1
psuedoconflict, LO 8.3
simple conflict, LO 8.3
ego conflict, LO 8.3
interpersonal power,
LO 8.4
dependent relationship,
LO 8.4
legitimate power, LO 8.4
referent power, LO 8.4
expert power, LO 8.4
reward power, LO 8.4
coercive power, LO 8.4
compliance gaining,
LO 8.4
conflict management
styles, LO 8.5
avoidance, LO 8.5
demand-withdrawal
pattern of conflict
management, LO 8.5
accommodation, LO 8.5
competition, LO 8.5
compromise, LO 8.5
collaboration, LO 8.5
flaming, LO 8.5
disinhibition effect, LO 8.5
gunny-sacking, LO 8.6
“I” language, LO 8.6
“but” messages, LO 8.6
face, LO 8.6
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12
LECTURE TOPICS
1. Given all of the myths about conflict, what are some ways to overcome the myths,
particularly when the other person in the conflict believes the myth?
2. How do you approach conflict with difficult people? What are some challenges in having
conflict with these people? What are some ways to better manage conflict with difficult
people?
3. Which of the conflict management styles do you tend to use when approaching conflict?
Why? Discuss the benefits and challenges in managing conflict with that style.
GROUP IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES FOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT
1. Media Application: How Far Will You Go? Show scenes from the film The Joy Luck Club,
in which a wife agrees to pay for cat bills and for half of an ice cream purchase to avoid
conflict with her stingy husband. Discuss the various conflict types and how this couple can
demonstrate equality in more constructive ways.
2. Role Plays. Divide the class into pairs and have each pair of students create brief conflict
scenario dialogues, using the different conflict styles. Give a scenario with corresponding
roles to each pair. Allow students a few minutes to discuss their tasks with their partners.
Have each pair perform their scenario, asking the class to identify which type of conflict was
created and which conflict styles were evidenced. Afterward, hold a class discussion about
the outcomes and ways the conflicts could have been managed using another method.
Scenarios
1. Roommates disagreeing over whose television program should be watched
Role A: Competing
Role B: Accommodating
2. A student and a teacher disagreeing about the student’s grade on a paper
Role A: Competing
Role B: Collaborating
3. A parent and daughter or son disagreeing about whether the parent will come to visit the
daughter or son this weekend
Role A: Accommodating
Role B: Avoiding
4. A cashier and a customer disagreeing about whether the customer gave the cashier a
twenty-dollar bill or a ten-dollar bill
Role A: Competing
Role B: Compromising
5. Two motorists, who have just had a minor collision, disagreeing about who is at fault for
the accident
Role A: Compromising
Role B: Compromising
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13
6. A parent and his or her adult child disagreeing about whether the parent will come to live
with the adult child
Role A: Competing
Role B: Competing
7. Two fans at a ball game disagreeing about who should get the last beverage a vendor has
to sell
Role A: Cooperative, separating the people from the problem
Role B: Controlling, using blaming
8. A taxicab driver and a customer disagreeing over the amount of the cab fare
Role A: Accommodating
Role B: Compromising
9. An intimate couple, disagreeing about which one of two parties to attend
Role A: Collaborating
Role B: Competing
10. Two friends disagreeing over both wanting to date the same person
Role A: Avoiding
Role B: Competing
3. Getting to Agree. Ask students to ponder the following quote by Winston Churchill: “My
most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.”
Then, open a discussion on the effective use of compliance-gaining strategies. Which
strategies tend to work in interpersonal relationships? Which strategies may run the risk of
backfiring? What do students think are the reasons that some strategies seem to be better
suited to successful interpersonal compliance gaining?
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS
1. Conflict is… Conflict is often described using metaphors that can be positive or negative.
Ask students to generate a list of words that come to mind when they hear the word
“conflict.” Some of the many metaphors include “fight,” “war,” and “struggle.” Then, have
students discuss where they acquired their perceptions of conflict. How was conflict handled
in their family of origin?
2. Creative Writing Assignment. Have students write a fictional short story that incorporates
the topics of this chapter. Each story should define conflict in some way, apply the conflict
myths and the conflict types, and discuss conflict and power, the various conflict
management styles, and conflict management skills.
3. Conflict Log. For a week, have students keep a log of the conflicts that they encounter with
other people. In this log, have students record the issue (and any underlined issues relevant to
the current conflict) and the way that the conflict was handled/managed. Encourage students
to also reflect on their partner and his or her approach to the conflict. Finally, ask students to
consider how the conflict management influenced the outcome from the conflict.
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REVEL WRITING EXERCISES
Journal Writing
8.1 Journal: Is Honesty Always the Best Policy? Is it ethical to mask your true emotions in
order to get along with others? Is honesty in a relationship always the best policy? Explain your
response.
8.2 Journal: Conflict Myths. Why is it important to identify conflict myths?
8.3 Journal: Ego Conflict. If Pat and Chris are experiencing an increase in ego conflict, what
strategies could they use to make the conflict more of a simple conflict rather than an ego
conflict?
8.4 Journal: Types of Power. Are certain types of power more ethical to use during a conflict
than others? Explain your answer, describing conditions that would justify the use of certain
types of power.
8.5 Journal: Temper Strategies. Richard has an explosive temper. He consistently receives
poor performance evaluations at work because he lashes out at those who disagree with him.
What strategies might help him manage his emotional outbursts?
8.6 Journal: Premeditating. Although the chapter suggests that there are specific skills you
could use to help manage conflicts and disagreements, are there disadvantages to premeditating
how you will respond in a conflict?
Shared Writing: Five Sources of Power
Working in a group, define the five sources of power (legitimate, referent, expert, reward, and
coercive) and provide examples of each.
