What is conflict management and how can it help you solve problems more effectively?

A person living in the modern world is, of course, subject to various kinds of influences and influences from the reality around him. This can manifest itself in a person’s attitude towards life situations, circumstances and other people, and in the attitude of the people around him, and, of course, in a person’s attitude towards himself.

But perhaps the greatest impact on the mood, worldview, mental manifestations and even the direction of actions and activities of each of us is exerted by our relationships with other people.

This question is very deep and multifaceted, and it is not possible to consider it within the framework of one article or a small series of articles. Although, if you set such a goal, and break the question itself into several separate components, then the desired result can be achieved. That is why on the pages of our online resource “4Brain” we have already covered in detail such topics as human psychology, NLP, creative thinking, healthy lifestyle, time management and many others. Surely, each of these trainings, if you studied them, could teach you something new and useful. We devote this training to one of the most important and integral components of human life – conflicts.

Having information about conflicts and being able to manage them is a useful skill for every person. As you know, all people differ from each other not only physically, but also in character, temperament, mental organization, interests, tastes, morals, etc. And communication between people is not always friendly and constructive - for certain reasons, tense relationships and conflicts arise between people. Moreover, these can be not just disagreements, disputes, scandals and minor troubles, but also conflictual relationships on a larger scale, up to fights, strikes, pickets, uprisings and even world wars. To verify this, you can simply turn on the TV and watch morning or evening news programs.

Conflicts await a person literally at every step: at home and at work, in transport and public places, in our hometown, where we spent our whole lives, and in another country where we went on vacation. Conflicts cannot be avoided. And even if you, as they say now, are a mega-positive person, in life, one way or another, situations will arise when you need to prove your point of view, put yourself in the position of another person, listen to something unpleasant addressed to you, with something... then disagree and, quite possibly, even use force to defend their rights or protect themselves or loved ones.

Naturally, the likelihood that you and I will be able to influence the situation in the world is negligible. And the presented training on conflict management is not designed for this. Its task is to give you important, necessary and useful information that you can successfully apply in practice, and which can teach you to interact more effectively with people around you, find a common language with them, avoid “sharp corners”, prevent negativity and aggression, and also behave exactly as required by each individual tense situation, if it does arise.

From our training on conflict management, you will learn, firstly, what it is – conflicts and conflict management. Secondly, we will talk about what the subject of conflictology is, the tasks and functions of conflictology, and what are the foundations of conflictology. Thirdly, we will talk about what problems exist in conflictology today, and what goal modern conflictology pursues. But it is important to understand that theoretical conflictology and applied conflictology are two parts of one whole. For this reason, we will also give you practical information on how conflict prevention, conflict management, conflict prevention and resolution are carried out. Studying the course will be most productive if you use additional materials, so after you have studied the training lessons, pay attention to books and textbooks, as well as other auxiliary tools, which are dedicated to a separate section of the course.

What is conflictology?

Conflictology is a discipline that studies the patterns of processes such as the emergence, development, resolution and completion of conflict.

One of the people who laid the foundations of the general theory of conflict was Karl Marx. He developed the doctrine of contradiction and developed a model of social change. After him, the foundations of the doctrine of conflict were formulated by the American sociologist Jonathan Turner. In addition, the American sociologist Lewis Coser and the German sociologist and philosopher Georg Simmel made a huge contribution to the development of conflictology science. If we study other sources, we can conclude that mainly sociologists, psychologists and political scientists took part in the development of conflictology in general, both in our country and abroad.

However, several significant circumstances allow us to draw a line between domestic and foreign conflictology:

• Abroad, attempts to create a theory of conflict were made back in the 19th century.
• Abroad, more approaches are used to study conflicts
• Abroad, conflictology is taught at the largest universities
• Bachelor's and Master's degrees in conflict management are available abroad
• Abroad, conflictology is a science, mainly of an applied nature.

As for domestic conflictology, the first publications on this topic appeared only in the 20s of the 20th century (the first work dates back to 1924; its authors are M. I. Mogilevsky and P. O. Griffin). In these works, the problem of conflicts was first identified as an independent one, and the term “conflict” already appears in the titles of the works themselves. And as a separate science, conflictology took shape in Russia in the early 90s. At present, Russian researchers are paying more and more attention to conflictology and the problem of conflict.

Now the time has come to say a few words about the central concept of conflictology - conflict.

Conflict in its general understanding is the most acute way to resolve contradictions in views, goals, and interests that arise during social interaction. The essence of the conflict lies in the confrontation between its participants, accompanied by negative emotions. Often this confrontation goes beyond social norms and rules.

But conflictology distinguishes between two main types of conflicts - social conflict and intrapersonal conflict.

Social conflict is the most acute way of developing and resolving contradictions that are important for people that arise during their interaction. The essence of such a conflict is similar to the essence expressed in the above definition of conflict.

Intrapersonal conflict is an acute negative experience caused by a long-term struggle of the internal psychological structures of the individual, reflecting the contradictory connections of a person with the social environment, and also complicating and delaying decision-making.

The ability to recognize and prevent the occurrence of conflict, as well as to manage and neutralize it, opens up enormous opportunities for a person. It allows any person not only to effectively resolve problematic situations and successfully get out of difficult situations associated with conflicts, but also to anticipate potentially dangerous situations and take appropriate actions to suppress them.

By and large, such a skill can make a person’s life more harmonious, painted in brighter colors and filled with predominantly positive emotions. Of course, we should not idealize, but if all people on the planet applied the principles of effective conflict prevention and resolution in their lives, then, for sure, there would be less disagreement, hatred, and wars in the world.

Here is a simple example at the everyday level: if, for example, two family members do not know conflict resolution skills, then if a dispute, misunderstanding, or disagreement arises, the situation with a high degree of probability can develop into a serious family scandal, the result of which can simply be negative emotions of people towards to each other, and complete discord and even a break in family relationships.

But when at least one person has the skills of conflict management, he is able, firstly, to prevent the situation from getting out of control and leading to devastating consequences, and secondly, to make sure that it does not appear at all, because he can recognize it before it even appears. And this can be applied not only to the area of ​​family relationships, but also to any other.

Conflictology and Western society

Man has always looked for ways to effectively resolve disagreements. Conflictology is a branch of knowledge that arose out of a desperate need to preserve peace between different social and ethnic groups and, as a result, many human lives. At the end of the nineteenth century, the theory of Marxism became very widespread in European countries. Its main tenets boil down to the issue of struggle between different economic classes. Therefore, since that time, European civilization has been learning serious approaches to conflict resolution and taking into account the interests of various parties. The main feature of European politics is the ability to compromise.

Erasmus of Rotterdam rightly pointed out: “War is sweet for those who do not know it.” That is why conflictology is becoming so important today.

Application of knowledge about conflicts

As already mentioned, we live in a world in which all kinds of disagreements, disputes, clashes, contradictions, etc. often arise. And even if the situation around you now is positive or at least neutral, it is not a fact that everything will continue to go like clockwork and no conflict situation will arise. Even such a superficial look tells us that conflicts need to be resolved.

But let's talk more specifically about why you need to apply knowledge about conflicts:

The benefits of applying knowledge about conflicts are obvious. But it would not be superfluous to note that these are not all the advantages of this skill. In fact, there are much more of them, including a positive influence on the future generation, in other words, on one’s children, because, as is known, the skills and abilities acquired by a person are passed on to his children in the form of predispositions at the genetic level. So, by studying conflict management, you can be sure that you are making not only your life better, but also the lives of your sons, daughters and even grandchildren.

Controversy and Paul MacLean's Theory

Conflictology as a branch of scientific knowledge affects such seemingly remote areas of human knowledge as anatomy and physiology. How do these disciplines relate to it?

To answer this question, it is necessary to consider what happens during a conflict at the level of processes in the central nervous system, and also consider the structure of the latter. As you know, one of the differences between the human brain and the animal brain is the presence of the neocortex - the cerebral cortex. This part is responsible for the processes of logical thinking, adequate perception of reality, and drawing up correct conclusions. The neocortex, or new cortex, is responsible for self-awareness, critical perception, and situation analysis.

The theory of a three-part brain was developed and proven by the American scientist Paul MacLean. It is directly related to the processes that conflictology studies.

The next part is the limbic, or emotional, brain. This part is already more ancient and is responsible for social status and emotions. The limbic brain is present in mammals and birds.

And finally, during conflict, activity moves to more ancient parts, the so-called reptilian brain. This department is formed in a child up to three years of age, and it is responsible - as the name suggests - for the most primitive functions. In the most general terms, this is the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. This system in an adult is responsible for satisfying the feeling of hunger, searching for a sexual partner, and the reaction of attack or flight.

Therefore, human behavior is largely determined by which part is active at a given time. When in conflict, you need to realize that this process involves the most ancient parts of the brain. This understanding is associated with numerous recommendations for behavior in a conflict situation - you need to focus on mathematical calculations, analyze the environment, and remember some logical problems. This switching of attention helps to redirect the source of excitement to more “humanized” zones.

How to learn this?

Continuing the conversation about innate and acquired skills, it is important to say that from birth a person does not have any knowledge. Any information is absorbed by a person over time. Skills develop in a similar way. If a person has a predisposition to something, in our case, to function competently in conflict situations, with practice his skills will be honed and will be useful in life.

But if a person does not have such a predisposition, he has to learn solely by trial and error. But the main thing is to learn, because, as the famous proverb says: “It’s hard to learn, it’s easy to fight.” Moreover, a person has an amazing ability to learn anything, naturally, with effort. You can learn in two ways: by studying theory and applying knowledge in practice:

However, situations when a person does not go beyond theory are no exception. Yes, he has information, but it does not bring him any benefit. And this is not because the information is of poor quality or useless, but because, as a rule, he simply does not know in what direction to direct his efforts so that something starts to work out.

Taking this nuance into account, we developed our training. Its goal is not just to introduce the reader to a powerful theoretical base, but to bring to his consciousness the idea of ​​​​its practical application, to teach him how to use it in his life.

Keep in mind that our conflict management training has both theoretical and practical aspects. The theoretical part will introduce you to the basics of conflict management and answer the most common questions within the framework of the topic under consideration. And the practical part contains valuable tips, tricks and methods that you will apply. Moreover, both theory and practice are supplemented with simple illustrative examples in order to eliminate the factor of misunderstanding.

Want to test your knowledge?

If you want to test your theoretical knowledge on the topic of the course and understand how suitable it is for you, you can take our test. For each question, only 1 option can be correct. After you select one of the options, the system automatically moves on to the next question.

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Structure of the conflict

There is no doubt that, to some extent, conflictology is a branch of knowledge of a theoretical nature, since it cannot but rely on the methods and developments of theoretical sciences. Abstracting from a specific situation, the researcher isolates those components that are common to any conflict. Based on this abstraction, scientists have identified several stages of a disagreement situation.

1. Pre-conflict stage. It is characterized by an increase in tension between the parties that are not yet in confrontation. The reasons for the beginning of this stage are either a real infringement of the interests of one of the parties, or a distorted perception of behavior, or false information about the behavior of one of the opponents.
2. Then the conflict escalates. This is a very dangerous stage, since with confrontation the process will only intensify, thereby exacerbating the conflict. At this stage, it is necessary to use the knowledge that is available in the arsenal of conflictology and prevent further growth of the conflict.
3. Resolution stage. This stage is reached when the parties understand that it is necessary to recognize the situation as it really is. You need to take into account factual information and understand that the price of success can be prohibitively higher than possible losses.
4. Negotiation. At this stage, the disagreements are finally over. Possible options for resolving remaining issues are clarified, the necessary papers are signed, and certain agreements are reached.

As already mentioned, the most sensitive part of the conflict process is the escalation stage. There, disagreements can take a completely different scenario.

Lessons on conflict management

After studying quite a large amount of theoretical materials on conflict management, highlighting the main points, systematizing them and adapting them to practice, we developed a set of unique lessons on this topic. These lessons discuss the most important sections of conflictology, as well as present the opinions of outstanding scientists and the results of some scientific research. The greatest value of these lessons lies in the fact that great attention is paid to practice.

Lesson 1. What is conflict: types, types and forms of conflicts

Despite the fact that conflicts are a component of human life, not everyone is able to answer the question: what is conflict really? The concept of conflicts is very vague in the understanding of the majority, i.e. it’s not just something like: they didn’t find a common language, they quarreled, fought, or they didn’t see eye to eye, but something more complex. And if we talk about the fact that conflicts are divided into a considerable number of types and varieties, then for many it is generally a “dark forest”.

In the first lesson, you will become familiar with the concept of conflict, consider its negative and positive sides (believe me, they exist), and learn by what signs you can recognize a conflict. Next, you will study the classifications of conflicts and learn from examples how each conflict differs from each other. A separate part will tell you about how modern conflictology typologizes conflicts. Despite the fact that the first lesson is mostly theoretical, already in it you will be given one wonderful exercise to work through your internal states.

Lesson 2. Causes of conflicts and stages of their development

It is important and necessary to know not only what conflicts are and what they are like, but also about the reasons for which conflict situations arise in general. Often, even the most harmless joke can cause a quarrel, which is surprising when the governments of seemingly friendly states cannot peacefully resolve the issue of who owns this or that territory. Accordingly, the reasons for any disagreement are something that you need to know about before you begin to take any practical action.

This lesson will introduce you to several types of causes of conflicts, as well as their subtypes - the first part of the lesson is devoted to this. In the second part we will talk about what stages the conflict goes through during its development, and what the dynamics of this process are. Each stage is supplemented with illustrative examples. It is quite possible that some of the examples will seem very familiar to you, because they are all taken from the lives of ordinary people and society.

Lesson 3. Prevention, avoidance and conflict management

The emergence of any conflict is always preceded by certain circumstances. Knowing what sparks conflict, as well as what can stop it, is a fundamental skill a person can use to avoid confrontation. If it was not possible to prevent the conflict, and confrontation arose, it is important to choose a strategy of behavior that will best suit the current situation. These are the things that will be discussed in the third lesson.

You will learn about what the process of conflict prevention is in general and about the reasons that may interfere with it; get acquainted with technology, using which you will learn to prevent conflicts; You will learn about the ways to develop and maintain cooperation and what regulatory procedures are available for resolving conflict situations. The bulk of the material in this lesson will tell you about conflict management methods and the situations in which these methods should or should not be used. And at the end of the lesson, the most effective recommendations for conflict management will be presented to your attention.

Lesson 4: Conflict Resolution and Resolution Strategies

A person who knows how to prevent and manage conflicts has a much better chance of avoiding unpleasant situations than someone who does not know how to do this. However, this does not guarantee 100% that a conflict will not arise. It is for this reason that conflictology pays great attention to the issue of conflict resolution and resolution. This can be called a real art, because, knowing how to apply the appropriate techniques, you can take advantage of even the most dangerous situation, as well as eliminate it.

The penultimate lesson will introduce you to the concepts of conflict resolution and conflict resolution and the difference between them, as well as the mistakes people most often make when trying to resolve conflict. Then you will learn about conflict prevention and conflict analysis. Much attention is paid to the process of negotiations, because they represent the main method of resolving conflicts, but other methods will not be overlooked. In the final part, you will look at a unique tool for working with conflicts - the conflict resolution matrix.

Lesson 5. Intrapersonal conflict: concept, types, prevention and resolution

Speaking about conflicts in general, they should not be understood as a process of interaction between people or groups of people. A special type of conflict often occurs in a person’s life – intrapersonal conflict. And it can often be many times more dangerous than any other, because a person within whom a conflict has arisen loses the ability for a harmonious existence, normal communication with other people, productive and effective activities. In its most acute forms, intrapersonal conflict can even cause suicide or extremely destructive antisocial behavior.

What is intrapersonal conflict? How does it manifest itself? What types of intrapersonal conflict exist, and what is its basis? Why can intrapersonal conflict be not only destructive, but also constructive? How can you prevent it or resolve it if it occurs? You will get answers to all these questions from the last lesson.

Authors of the course and lessons:

Kirill Nogales and Evgeny Buyanov

Defining the object of the conflict

This is the most important point in resolving any disagreement. And at the same time it is the most difficult. The object of the conflict can very often be veiled by one of the parties or both. It is also sometimes replaced due to the pursuit of one’s own goals and manipulation. For example, in the vast majority of cases, the object of struggle between politicians is power. However, this motive is often replaced by another. For example, the struggle can take place under the guise of caring for the population. Thus, a noble pretext masks deeper motives.

Conflictology as a branch of psychological knowledge is designed to isolate the true motives of disagreements between people.

The object of the conflict must be distinguished from the subject. The latter is the contradiction that pushes the parties to the conflict to enter into disagreements.

How to take classes?

As has already been noted more than once, the materials of our conflict management training are maximally adapted for practical use, and for use by absolutely any person. But in no case should we forget that the decisive factor here is not the study of the material, but its practical use. Reading, studying, knowing a lot of useful and interesting things is, of course, good. But if knowledge that can be applied in life is not applied, its price will be low, because they will not bring you any benefit. Keep this in mind.

You can study each of the lessons step by step. As an example, here is a simple algorithm (but you can develop your own):

Thus, it will take you a little more than a month to study this training. If this period seems too long for you, make your own schedule and study/practice, for example, not one lesson a week, but two. Find the option that is most comfortable for you.

I would also like to say that you need to not just apply a skill once, even successfully, but gradually and purposefully hone it in order to introduce it into the arsenal of actions that are familiar to you. Try to form a healthy habit (according to some studies, this takes 21 days).

During the learning process, use all kinds of auxiliary materials - a notebook, diary, organizer, computer or gadget. For example, set a beep in your smartphone's task scheduler at your scheduled study time to remind you that it's time to start studying. Or make a short note in a notebook every time you behaved effectively or ineffectively in a conflict situation. You can come up with anything - the main thing is that it is for your benefit.

Ways to resolve conflict

Conflictology is a branch of knowledge of a theoretical nature, on the one hand; but on the other hand, it is aimed at solving quite applied issues. And its main goal, of course, is to eliminate conflicts and restore peace. There are several such methods.

1. Compromise. It is characterized by mutual concessions of the parties.
2. Avoiding the problem. In this case, one of the participants in the conflict begins to ignore the conflict and refuses to realize his interests. This method, rather, will speak not of resolution, but of the fading of the situation of disagreement.
3. Concessions by one of the parties. In fact, this is an opportunistic solution, but with large losses it is inevitable and more profitable.
4. Involvement of third parties. People or social groups who are not interested in the object of disagreement help resolve the conflict situation. Often this is the only way out.
5. Cooperation. The most productive way. It is characterized by the ability to discern the interests of the other side and help the opponent achieve his goal. This happens on a reciprocal basis.

The identified methods of conflict resolution, on the one hand, can be applied to many types of conflict situations, that is, they are theoretical in nature. On the other hand, conflictology is aimed at solving specific real problems. Therefore, we can partly say that conflictology is also a branch of knowledge of an applied nature. But, as you can see, this is only a partial description of it.

Coercion as an outcome of conflict

This method is the worst, since in the process of its action the interests of one of the parties are completely ignored. This type of conflict resolution - although it is very difficult to call it a way out of the situation - is often inherent in married life. One of the partners may believe that he has the right to force the other to perform any actions at his own discretion - for example, washing clothes during the time designated for rest. Of course, the second spouse may agree to carry out this order, but inside himself he will feel humiliation, which only gives rise to a series of responses and a desire for revenge.

The method of coercion is also often used in relations between a manager and a subordinate. Unfortunately, many managers do not understand the limits of their authority, or their motives do not actually coincide with the productive values ​​of certain companies. By unreasonably infringing on the interests of the employee, the manager will receive nothing but constant staff turnover, poorly performed work or sabotage.

Next, the next area where coercion is used is the relationship between parent and child. And here, as in previous examples, an authoritarian parent will not achieve any positive results by constantly imposing his will. He will either raise a person with many psychological complexes, which will result in his own failure as a parent and an adult in general. Either - in the near future or in the more distant future - he will be faced with the fact that the child will begin to show rebellion.

Conflictology is a branch of knowledge, theoretical understanding and practical application of the information received. Therefore, it is possible to apply methods of resolving disagreements developed by conflict experts in any specific area - from international relations to family relations.