Conflict facts for kids
A conflict is a struggle between people which may be physical, or between conflicting ideas. The word comes from Latin conflingere Conflingere means to come together for a battle. Conflicts can either be within one person, or they can involve several people or groups. Conflicts arise because there are needs, values or ideas that are seen to be different, and there is no means to reconcile the dispute.
Very often, conflicts lead to fights, or even wars (in the case where conflicts are solved with weapons). Conflict between ideas is usually fought with propaganda.
Contents
Main types of conflict
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Different types of conflict include the following:
- Content conflict occurs when individuals disagree about how to deal with a certain issue. This can be a good thing as it has the potential to stimulate discussion and increase motivation.
- Relationship conflict occurs when individuals disagree about one another. This relational conflicts decreases performance, loyalty, satisfaction and commitment, and causes individuals to be irritable, negative and suspicious. This stems from interpersonal incompatibilities. It is an awareness of frictions caused by frustrations, annoyance, and irritations. Relationship conflict is comparable to affective and cognitive conflict as defined by Amason and Pinkley, respectively.
- Process conflict refers to disagreement over the group's approach to the task, its methods, and its group process. They note that although relationship conflict and process conflict are harmful, task conflict is found to be beneficial since it encourages diversity of opinions, although care should be taken so it does not develop into a process or relationship conflict.
- Task conflict is related to disagreements in viewpoints and opinion about a particular task in group settings. It is associated with two interrelated and beneficial effects. The first is group decision quality. Task conflict encourages greater cognitive understanding of the issue being discussed. This leads to better decision making for the groups that use task conflict. The second is affective acceptance of group decisions. Task conflict can lead to increased satisfaction with the group decision and a desire to stay in the group.
- Affective conflict is an emotional conflict developed from interpersonal incompatibilities and disputes. It often produces suspicion, distrust, and hostility. Therefore, it is seen as a negative kind of conflict and an obstacle to those who experience it and is described as "dysfunctional."
- Cognitive conflict occurs during tasks and comes from a difference in perspective and judgement. It improves decision making and allows for the freer exchange of information between group members. Cognitive conflict is seen as a positive tension that promotes good group work.
The following are examples of conflict that could be either intragroup or intergroup conflict.
- Conflict of interest is involvement in multiple interests which could possibly corrupt the motivation or decision-making.
- Cultural conflict is a type of conflict that occurs when different cultural values and beliefs clash.
- Intellectual conflict is a subclass of cultural conflict.
- Ethnic conflict is conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups.
- Organizational conflict is discord caused by opposition of needs, values, and interests between people working together.
- Role conflict involves incompatible demands placed upon a person in a manner that makes accomplishing both troublesome.
- Social conflict is the struggle for supremacy or autonomy between social classes.
- Work–family conflict involves incompatible demands between the work and family roles of an individual.
Course of conflict
Conflicts are not static events in themselves, but develop a dynamic that can become uncontrollable in extreme cases. The course of a conflict can be divided into four phases:
| Phase of conflict | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Phase I | Latent phase | The conflict situation emerges |
| Phase II | Conscience | Both parties recognise the conflict |
| Phase III | Action | Both parties react based on their thoughts and emotions |
| Phase IV | Interactions | Both parties interact with alternating conflict modes |
Beyond that a conflict can further escalate.
Conflict behavior
The various ways in which people react to conflict situations have been presented by Gerhard Schwarz, sometimes in reference to Eric Lippmann, as follows:
- Flight (Evasion, Avoidance)
- Fight (Enforcement, Destruction)
- Subordination (Adaptation, Concession, Unilateral Acceptance)
- Delegation (of the problem to another instance)
- Compromise (Agreement with advantages and disadvantages on both sides)
- Consensus (Cooperation)
These behavior patterns can lead to the solution or dissolution of a conflict in different situations. While the first-mentioned stages are anti- or confrontational in character, the last-mentioned stages represent forms of constructive conflict resolution - with consensus as the highest (to be learned) form.
Conflict mediation
Conflict is a social process that is exacerbated when individual members of a group take sides in the debate. Among the methods to resolve conflict is mediation of the dispute by a group member not currently involved in the dispute. More specifically, a mediator is defined as a person who attempts to resolve a conflict between two group members by intervening in this conflict. Put simply, the mediator can be thought of as a disinterested guide directs the disputants through the process of developing a solution to a disagreement. For conflicts with negative interpersonal relationships on a low escalation level, relationship building can help transform the nature of the relationship and improve the communication. As mediation depends on meeting together peacefully, it is more successful in conflicts with low levels of escalation where there is still a will to work on an agreement.
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