3. Think back on the last interpersonal conflict in which you were involved personally. This may be a conflict that is currently active.
A conflict I was involved in was a year ago. It had to do with trust issues and perception distortion which " is a natural side effect of being in a conflict and a major force preventing effective conflict resolution" (Coltri, 2009). I've noticed perceptual distortion as a big part of many conflicts I've encountered. In my situation, people were spreading rumors and the other party who were in conflict with me could not trust me because they did not know me well. People were saying whatever they wanted to say about me to get things their way and for the other party to believe them …show more content…
Even though, after the talk they said they believed me and won't listen to rumors, they would turn on me after hearing rumors again and again. We eventually had a mediator but it only made the situation worse because the other party was stubborn and only wanted to believe what they wanted to believe. The same thing went on and on for a years and a half until I just gave up on trying to gain trust, understanding, building a good relationship.
c. What does this information tell you about your overall attitude toward conflict? Do you welcome conflicts or try to avoid them?
My overall attitude towards conflict is that it is good to resolve conflicts if resolvable. But if conflicts are too complicated to resolve I prefer to just avoid it as much as possible to prevent tension between the two parties. This can sometimes gives the parties time to reflect on the conflict. Through all the conflict that I've been through within the last 3 years, I choose to avoid complicated conflicts I know that can't be resolved and only welcome conflicts that are resolvable.
d. Think hard about what the advantages are of your overall approach to conflict. What are the disadvantages? What can you do to …show more content…
The disadvantage of the approach is that one party may be leaving out information or telling lies to get what they want while the other is telling the truth (Coltri, 2009). Once it's revealed that one party is telling lies, this could create a lot of tension between the parties. If the disputant doesn't want to negotiate and resolve the conflict they can be left alone to reflect on the conflict. This will give both the disputants time to think, and calm