What is conflict
Conflict is a disagreement or clash between people or groups of people that is caused by differences in goals, behavior or attitudes. The interests of the parties to the conflict do not coincide, while each side tries to ensure that its point of view is accepted, and the enemy insists on his position. Conflict, as a rule, is accompanied by negative emotions and is the most acute form of clarification of relationships.
It often happens that the result of conflict is actions that go beyond generally accepted rules and social norms. There is a whole science that studies conflicts. It's called conflictology.
Not only people are capable of sorting out relationships. In nature, collisions also occur between individuals and groups of animals. This indicates that conflicts play an important role in the interaction of all living creatures on the planet.
Rivalry
Rivalry is a type of behavior when a subject strives to satisfy his own interests, causing damage to the interests of the opposing subject. Following the presented strategy, a person is confident that only one participant can gain the upper hand in a conflict, and victory for one will always mean defeat for the other. A person who prefers competition will “push his line” in every way available to him.
The opposite position will not be taken into account by them.
Basic human actions with the “Competition” strategy
- Tight control over your opponent's actions
- Constant and deliberate pressure on an opponent by any means
- The use of deception and tricks to create an advantage in one’s favor
- Provoking your opponent to make mistakes and ill-considered steps
- Reluctance to engage in constructive dialogue due to overconfidence
Pros and cons of the “Rivalry” strategy
Rigidly defending one's position can, of course, help the subject gain the upper hand in the event of a conflict. But such a strategy cannot be applied if the subsequent interaction of people involves long-term relationships, for example, joint work, friendship, love. After all, relationships can develop and generally have the right to exist only if the desires and interests of all people are taken into account, and the defeat of one will mean defeat for everyone. Therefore, if the person with whom you have a conflict is dear to you or the relationship with him is important to you for some reason, it is better not to use the strategy of competition to resolve the conflict.
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Causes of the conflict
Among the main causes of conflict, the following are usually identified:
• Resource allocation. As a rule, in any environment the number of resources is limited. At the same time, each individual tends to want to take possession of as many valuable assets as possible. On this basis, clashes arise, since both sides of the conflict want to increase their share of resources at the expense of each other.
• Task interdependence. In any organization there are interdependent elements - people, groups of people or departments. They are all united by one task, but to achieve it, each has their own roles. When someone does their role poorly, disagreements arise that can lead to conflict. In this case, the parties to the conflict are those people or groups of people who, on the way to accomplishing their task, encounter any obstacles caused by the actions of other elements.
• Differences in goals. It often happens that the goals that people or a group of people set for themselves differ from the goals of another department or the organization as a whole. In this case, during the practical implementation of the overall goal of the organization, conflict situations may arise.
• Differences in life experiences and values. People who differ in level of education, age, ideas about life and their habits may periodically conflict with each other.
Structure of the conflict. Conflict and incident.
Structure of the conflict
Basic structural elements of the conflict
Parties to a conflict are subjects of social interaction who are in a state of conflict or who explicitly or implicitly support those in conflict.
The subject of the conflict is what causes the conflict.
The image of a conflict situation is a reflection of the subject of the conflict in the minds of the subjects of conflict interaction.
Motives of conflict are internal driving forces that push subjects of social interaction towards conflict (motives appear in the form of needs, interests, goals, ideals, beliefs).
The main elements of conflict interaction are:
1) the object of the conflict;
2) subjects (participants) of the conflict;
3) social environment, conflict conditions;
4) subjective perception of the conflict and its personal elements.
By their nature and nature, all elements of conflict can be divided into two types: 1) objective (impersonal) and 2) personal.
The objective elements of a conflict include those components that do not depend on the will and consciousness of a person, on his personal qualities (psychological, moral, value orientations, etc.). Such elements are: the object of the conflict, the participants in the conflict, the environment of the conflict.
Personal elements of conflict include psychophysiological, psychological, ethical and behavioral properties of an individual, which influence the emergence and development of a conflict situation.
A person's character traits, habits, feelings, will, interests and motives - all this and many other qualities play a huge role in the dynamics of any conflict. But to the greatest extent their influence is found at the micro level, in interpersonal conflict and in conflict within the organization.
Among the personal elements of conflict, first of all, the following should be mentioned:
1) the main psychological dominants of behavior;
2) character traits and personality types;
3) personality attitudes that form the ideal type of individuality;
4) inadequate assessments and perceptions;
5) manners of behavior;
6) ethical values.
Differences in the named characteristics of people, their discrepancy and opposite nature can serve as the basis for conflict.
The positions of the conflicting parties are what they declare to each other during the conflict or in the negotiation process.
Conflict = participants + object + conflict situation + incident, where participants are subjects directly involved in all phases of the conflict, irreconcilably assessing the essence and course of the same events related to the activities of the other party;
an object is an object, phenomenon, event, problem, goal, action that gives rise to a conflict situation and conflicts;
a conflict situation is a situation of hidden or open confrontation between two or several participants (parties), each of whom has their own goals and motives, means and ways of solving a personally significant problem;
An incident is the practical actions of participants in a conflict situation, which are characterized by uncompromising actions and aimed at mandatory mastery of the object of heightened counter-interest.
Incident
The transition of a conflict from a latent state to open confrontation occurs as a result of one or another incident (from the Latin incidens - an incident that happens). An incident is one that initiates open confrontation between the parties. The incident of conflict cannot be distinguished from its cause.
An occasion is that specific event that serves as an impetus, a subject for the beginning of conflict actions. Moreover, it may arise by chance, or it may be specially invented, but in any case, the reason is not yet a conflict. In contrast, an incident is already a conflict, its beginning.
For example, the Sarajevo Murder - the murder of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, carried out on June 28, 1914 (new style) in the city of Sarajevo, was used by Austria-Hungary as a pretext for starting the First World War. Already on July 15, 1914, Austria-Hungary, under direct pressure from Germany, declared war on Serbia. And Germany’s direct invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 is no longer a reason, but an incident indicating the beginning of World War II.
The incident exposes the positions of the parties and makes clear the division into “us” and “strangers”, friends and enemies, allies and opponents. After the incident, “who is who” becomes clear, because the masks have already been dropped. However, the real strengths of the opponents are not yet fully known and it is unclear how far one or another participant in the conflict can go in the confrontation. And this uncertainty of the true forces and resources (material, physical, financial, mental, information, etc.) of the enemy is a very important factor in restraining the development of the conflict at its initial stage. At the same time, this uncertainty contributes to the further development of the conflict. Because it is clear that if both sides had a clear understanding of the enemy’s potential and resources, then many conflicts would be stopped from the very beginning. The weaker side would not, in many cases, aggravate the useless confrontation, and the stronger side, without hesitation, would suppress the enemy with its power. In both cases, the incident would have been resolved fairly quickly.
Thus, an incident often creates an ambivalent situation in the attitudes and actions of opponents of the conflict. On the one hand, you want to quickly “get into a fight” and win, but on the other hand, it is difficult to enter the water “without knowing the ford.”
Therefore, important elements of the development of the conflict at this stage are: “reconnaissance”, collecting information about the true capabilities and intentions of opponents, searching for allies and attracting additional forces to one’s side. Since the confrontation in the incident is local in nature, the full potential of the parties to the conflict has not yet been demonstrated. Although all forces are already beginning to be brought into combat mode.
However, even after the incident, it remains possible to resolve the conflict peacefully, through negotiations, to reach a compromise between the parties to the conflict. And this opportunity should be used to the fullest.
If after the incident it was not possible to find a compromise and prevent further development of the conflict, then the first incident is followed by a second, third, etc. The conflict enters the next stage - it escalates (increases).
Classification of conflicts
If we take the main causes of conflicts and combine them, we can obtain a classification of the disagreements that arise. For example, if we consider conflicts of interest from the perspective of the party to the conflict, this assumes the following classification:
• conflicts between individuals;
• between a specific person and a group of people;
• among groups;
• between social communities;
• between ethnic groups;
• interstate conflicts.
Social conflicts based on motivation can also be distinguished. There are three blocks in total:
• conflicts related to the distribution of positions of power and authority;
• conflicts of interests based on the distribution of material resources;
• disagreements related to differences in basic life attitudes.
Classification of conflicts is a method of determining them, which consists in establishing a common characteristic by which conflicts can be grouped. At the same time, the parties to a social conflict interact with each other in a certain direction, characteristic of one or another form of opposition, which is determined by the reasons for the disagreement.
Concept and general characteristics of the object of social conflict
Definition 1
The object of social conflict is a specifically defined value of a material or spiritual nature regarding which a conflict of interests arises between two or more social entities.
In other words, the object of a social conflict can actually be any object of material measure or social reality that has the ability to satisfy personal, group, general social or state interests, provided that it is located at the intersection of the interests of several social subjects, each of which strives for sole possession the corresponding object.
Carrying out a general description of the object of social conflict, we note that one of the basic features of the corresponding category is the scarce nature of the corresponding object, that is, a property due to the existence of which such an object cannot be possessed by everyone. At the same time, compensation for such a deficit in most cases can eliminate existing social tensions or existing social conflict.
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In addition, it should be especially noted that the designated sign of scarcity of a resource or good that constitutes the object of a social conflict can be either objective, that is, associated with the real limitation or indivisibility of the good between everyone, or subjective, associated with the internal desire of the warring subjects to have exactly this specific object, despite the existence of other similar objects in a volume sufficient to satisfy the need for its possession by everyone.
In other words, the deficiency of the object of a social conflict, as well as its content, are often relative in nature and can be assessed differently both during the development of a social conflict and from the point of view of its various participants.
Continuing the characterization of the object of social conflict, it seems appropriate to also dwell on the description of a category closely related to the object of conflict - the subject of social conflict.
Definition 2
The subject of a social conflict is a problematic situation that exists objectively or in the minds of the participants in the conflict interaction, and is the main cause of contradictions between the subjects of the conflict.
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In other words, we can say that, along with the object, the subject of the conflict acts as the main contradiction in connection and for the sake of the resolution of which the parties are ready to enter into open confrontation among themselves.
Note 1
Determining the subject and object of the conflict is an extremely important stage in resolving a social conflict, because without defining and specifying the designated categories, effective conflict management is impossible.
Social functions of conflict
The social functions of conflict can be both positive and negative. The impact of conflict depends largely on the social system. In those groups that are freely structured, where conflict is the norm, and at the same time effective mechanisms for its resolution have been developed, contradictions contribute to increased resilience, dynamics and progress. If a social group has a totalitarian organization, where conflict is not allowed and is suppressed only by one method - force, then the conflict leads to disintegration and dysfunction. When unresolved differences accumulate, they lead to serious social problems.
CONFLICT
Conflict is the subject of research in many sciences - sociology, political science, conflictology, social psychology, etc.
Social psychology, when studying conflicts, focuses primarily on two issues: analysis of secondary socio-psychological aspects in each conflict (for example, awareness of the conflict by its participants) and identification of a particular class of conflicts generated by specific socio-psychological factors. When studying these problems in social psychology, attention is paid, first of all, to such characteristics of conflict as structure, dynamics, function and typology of conflict
Positive aspects of the conflict
Confrontation is an integral source of the development of society and the changes occurring in it. When developed correctly, conflict has positive results. These include:
• Progressive changes. Any new beginning involves the negation of the old. This is a kind of conflict between established foundations and new trends. Since there is a human factor behind any action, confrontation between adherents of the old and the new is inevitable.
• Mobilization of resources and attention. The positive aspects of the conflict in this case are manifested in the fact that it provokes people to take actions that are necessary to resolve any uncomfortable situation. It is possible for a long time, due to mutual respect, reluctance to provoke scandals, and other things, to avoid difficult issues. But when a conflict arises, problems have to be solved, mobilizing all the necessary resources and means for this.
• Involving the population in pressing issues. Conflict attracts society's attention to complex issues, and this, in turn, provokes people to take actions that help resolve the negative situation.
• Development of free thinking. Conflict, as a rule, aggravates the situation and helps eliminate the “submission syndrome.” The positions of the parties to the conflict are defended by its participants with great zeal, awakening in a person all his hidden resources.
STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE CONFLICT AT THE ESCALATION PHASE
Conflict escalation begins at the stage of the first incident or opposing action and ends at the stage of transition to the end of the conflict in the overall structure of the conflict situation. Escalation, depending on its external objective degree of severity (physical conditions under which the conflict occurs) and the characteristics of the subjects (personal and social conditions of the conflict), can influence many elements of the conflict.
Structural changes that can occur during the escalation phase:
– changing the temporal, spatial, external and internal boundaries of the conflict;
– change in the number of participants;
– changing priorities in the subject area of the conflict;
– change in the subjective perception of the conflict.
It is easy to see that escalation can cause structural changes in all components of a conflict situation. All changes are aimed towards increasing and growing the component. For example, new participants are involved, the territory in which the conflict occurs is expanding. By changing the subject of struggle or the priority of interests, the social space increases (new areas of contradictions are added).
At the peak of escalation, qualitative changes in the rank of participants occur, forming a different hierarchy of all subjects of conflict interaction. With equal ranks of opponents, the conflict situation develops weakly. With unequal ranks, the participant with a higher rank gains the support of other participants, and the conflict, as a rule, begins to develop in his favor.
Changes in the subjective perception of the conflict at the escalation stage occur as follows:
1) increasing the significance and value of the parties to the conflict’s own interests;
2) mental tension increases and rejects the grounds for joint resolution of the problem situation;
3) actions against the opponent and a firm position of intransigence of one’s interests and views;
4) regressive functioning of the psyche, increased emotional stress;
5) an exclusive idea of the opponent as an enemy, the absolutization of his negative traits and personality traits.
As the conflict escalates, the conscious component of the subjects of the conflict decreases in favor of the unconscious. The protective mechanisms of the individual’s psyche are aimed at preserving the internal state of the individual, but not at constructively resolving an external conflict situation.
Analysis of structural changes in a conflict situation helps to determine the boundaries of the most dangerous stage - escalation, which will subsequently guide the choice of means of conflict resolution.
Negative sides of the conflict
The negative sides of the conflict are dysfunctional phenomena that lead to a decrease in the efficiency of the organization. If we consider in more detail the negative aspects of the contradictions, among them we can highlight the following:
• Distracting people from real problems and goals. It often happens that the goal of defeating the enemy overshadows reasonable arguments, and selfish interests begin to prevail. In this case, the conflict does not solve pressing problems, but only distracts attention from them.
• Increased dissatisfaction, depression, mistrust of others and management. These phenomena reduce labor efficiency and do not contribute to unlocking people's potential.
• Fruitless waste of strength, energy and resources on internal struggle. In conflict situations, people spend certain resources, and when these costs do not help improve the unfavorable situation, this causes unjustified losses of resources that could be used in a more necessary direction.
functional consequences of conflicts for the organization:
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The problem is solved in a way that suits all parties, and as a result, people feel involved in solving a problem that is important to them
2. A jointly and voluntarily made decision is implemented faster and better.
3. The parties gain experience in cooperation in resolving controversial issues and can use it in the future.
4. Effective resolution of conflicts between a manager and subordinates destroys the so-called “submission syndrome” - the fear of openly expressing one’s opinion that differs from the opinion of one’s seniors.
5. Relationships between people improve.
6. People stop viewing the presence of disagreements as an “evil” that always leads to bad consequences.
(-) interferes with the assertion of one’s own opinion and independent behavior.
Characters of the conflict
In any conflict, the following actors are distinguished:
A conflict participant is a person or group of people who are involved in a conflict situation. The participant may not even be aware of the true goals and objectives of the confrontation.
The direct participant in the conflict is the instigator. It is he who initiates the showdown.
The subject of the conflict is a person or group of people who creates an opposing situation. The subject is able to sufficiently influence the course of the conflict, focusing on his interests. The subject also influences the behavior and position of the participants in the conflict, involves new subjects in it and is capable of causing changes in social relations.
The parties to the conflict are new unities that are capable of acting as an independent whole. The parties to the conflict include only those social entities that take active actions towards each other. The parties to the conflict are unities that are formed around newly emerging issues from the remnants of old, disintegrated groups.
THE CONCEPT OF CONFLICT ESCALATION
Escalation (from the Latin scala - ladder) is the most emotionally intense and rapidly developing stage of conflict interaction.
Signs of escalation in conflict interaction
1. The cognitive or rational component in the actions and behavior of participants decreases.
2. The first place in the interpersonal relations of the warring parties comes to a negative assessment of each other; perception excludes the holistic content, emphasizing only the negative traits of the opponent.
3. Due to the decrease in control over the interaction situation, the emotional stress of the participants in the conflict increases.
4. Dominance of subjective attacks and criticism of the opponent’s personal traits instead of argumentation and arguments in favor of supported interests.
At the stage of escalation, the main contradiction may no longer be the goals and interests of the subjects of conflict interaction, but personal contradictions. In this regard, other interests of the parties appear, aggravating the atmosphere of conflict. Any interests during escalation are maximally polarized; participants completely reject the interests of the opposite side. An increase in aggressiveness at this stage may result in the loss of the true original subject of the controversy. Therefore, a conflict situation ceases to depend on the reasons that prompted the participants to conflict, and can develop even after the value and significance of the original subject of the contradiction has decreased.
Escalation has the property of increasing the temporal and spatial characteristics of the conflict. The contradictions between the participants become wider and deeper, and there are more reasons for conflict. The conflict escalation phase is the most dangerous stage of the entire conflict situation, since it is at this time that an initially interpersonal conflict can develop into an intergroup conflict. This, in turn, leads to a variety of means used at the stage of open conflict.
Escalation has external and internal mechanisms that intensify the conflict. External mechanisms of escalation lie in the methods and strategies of behavior of the warring parties. When behavioral actions coincide, the conflict is more intense, since the participants achieve different goals and interests in approximately equal ways.
Internal escalation mechanisms are based on the capabilities of the human psyche and brain.
Characteristics of individuals, personal and social attitudes of participants in a conflict situation influence a person’s reaction and functioning in conditions of emotional tension and potential danger.
Conflict resolution
Any conflict situation is sooner or later resolved or frozen. In order to eliminate contradictions and constructively resolve the issue, it is necessary to recognize the existence of the conflict and identify its main participants. Then it is worth organizing a negotiation procedure, discussing pressing issues, searching for compromise solutions and putting the adopted resolutions into practice.
If it is possible to achieve such results, the conflict can be considered a positive phenomenon that has positive consequences.
Informational models of a conflict situation.
A kind of mediating link between the characteristics of the participants in the conflict and the conditions for its occurrence, on the one hand, and conflict behavior, on the other, are images of a conflict situation - a kind of ideal maps that include the following elements:
— the participants in the contradiction’s understanding of themselves, their needs, capabilities, goals, values, etc.
— ideas of the conflict participants about the opposite side (about its needs, capabilities, goals, values, etc.)
— ideas of each participant regarding how the opponent perceives him
— the conflicting parties’ understanding of the environment and conditions in which the conflict occurs.
The need to analyze images of a conflict situation is determined by two circumstances:
1. it is the ideal picture of conflicts, and not the reality of the contradiction that itself directly determines conflict behavior,
2. there is a real and effective means of resolving the conflict by changing their images, which is carried out through external influence on the participants in the conflict.
The degree of discrepancy between the image and the real picture varies. For example, a conflict situation may exist, but not be recognized by the parties as such, or vice versa.
The essence of the conflict management process
Conflict management is an activity aimed at resolving disputes and eliminating differences between parties defending different points of view. The ultimate goal of such activity is the complete resolution of the conflict, that is, the achievement of mutual agreement. Each party should come out of the situation with a feeling of satisfaction and benefit that they received for themselves.
Conflicts can have different types of functionality. These can be heated but constructive dialogues between subjects, contributing to the solution of important social problems, or destructive disputes leading to the destruction of the social system. Therefore, the dynamics of conflicts are usually regulated by subjects of social management, whose actions are determined based on their own interests.
The main goal of conflict management is to prevent destructive situations.
It is important to see the possibilities of conflict management in an organization from the point of view of internal and external positions. The internal position involves managing the behavior of the person involved in the conflict and is based on the possibility of using psychological approaches. The external position represents the organizational and technological aspect of this process, in which both the manager responsible for the implementation of the goals and the employee performing official duties are considered as subjects of management.
A conflict is a signal of a failure that arose in the communication process. Poor conflict management can make the situation worse. Therefore, it is necessary to defuse it as quickly as possible, trying to avoid mistakes and miscalculations that could cause an increase in tension.
