Conflict (process)

A conflict is a situation, in which inacceptable differences in interests, expectations, values, and opinions occur in or between individuals or groups.

Disagreements, discrepancies, and frictions that occur when the actions or beliefs of one or more members of the group are unacceptable to one or more other group members and are rejected by them.

[1]

An interaction between actors (individuals, groups, organizations, etc.), where at least one actor experiences incompatibilities in thinking/imagination/perception and/or feeling and/or wanting with the other actor (the other actors) in such a way that in realizing an impairment by another actor (the other actors) occurs.

[2]

Contradictory interests that are represented by different people or groups of people and who are dependent on each other in achieving their interests (or at least believe this).

[3]

Interactive processes that manifest themselves in incompatibility, disagreement, or dissonance within or between social entities.

[4]

A state of tension that arises because there are irreconcilable contradictions between two or more parties with regard to a certain good.

[5]

Activities that take place when conscious beings (individuals or groups) want to take actions that do not match their desires, needs, or obligations.

[6]

Situations where hostile behavior occurs.

[7]

Behavior that deliberately hinders the achievement of another's goals.

[8]

State of objective incompatibility between values or goals.

[9]

Depending on the source, there are different definitions for conflicts:

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.

[12]

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.^[13]

[12]

refers to disagreement over the group's approach to the task, its methods, and its group process.^[13] 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.^[13]

Process 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 understanding of the issue being discussed. This leads to better decision making for the groups that use task conflict.^[13] 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.^[14]

cognitive

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."

[15]

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.

[15]

In cases of intragroup conflict, there is a conflict between the overall goals of the general group, and the goals of at least one person in that group.^[10] The disagreements may also be examples of interpersonal conflict, a conflict between two or more people.^[11] Intrapersonal conflicts are conflicts occurring in an individual, for example a bad conscience or an identity conflict. More specific types of conflict include the following.

The following are examples of conflict that could be either intragroup or intergroup conflict.

Conflicts can also be categorised geographically, as in the North-South conflict and the East-West conflict. Other examples are territorial conflicts such as the Kosovo War, the Iraq-Iran War, the Middle East conflict, the China-Taiwan conflict and the Korean Conflict. Likewise, conflicts can be categorised according to the people involved. Areas in which conflicts frequently occur are, for example, in the family, between parents, between siblings or between parents and children, among friends and acquaintances, in groups, in school, in nature, in business between companies, employers or employees,^[22] in science,^[23] between generations (generational conflict), between ethnic groups (ethnic conflict) or within or between states (see peace research).

(Evasion, Avoidance)

Flight

(Enforcement, Destruction)

Fight

(Adaptation, Concession, Unilateral Acceptance)

Subordination

(of the problem to another instance)

Delegation

(Agreement with advantages and disadvantages on both sides)

Compromise

(Cooperation)

Consensus

Level 1-3 (hardening, polarization & debate, actions instead of words): Moderation

Level 3-5 (actions instead of words, concern about image & coalitions, loss of face): Process support

Level 4-6 (concern about image & coalitions, loss of face, threatening strategies): socio-therapeutic process support

Level 5-7 (loss of face, threatening strategies, limited destructive strikes): conciliation/mediation

Level 6-8 (threatening strategies, limited destructive strikes, fragmentation): arbitration/judicial proceedings

Level 7-9 (limited destructive strikes, fragmentation, together into the abyss): power intervention