Interpersonal Conflicts

Interpersonal Conflict
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Institution

Interpersonal Conflict
The term interpersonal conflict has various definitions. One of the meanings is a clash between two people who are unable or unwilling to meet the expectation of each other (Bao et al., 2016). Interpersonal conflict can also be defined as a representation of differences, incompatibilities, and disagreements between two or more people who interact with one another.
Interpersonal conflicts are caused by various aspects. One such factor is difference in personalities. For example, a person might have high sensitivity due to insecurity, low self-esteem or other factors. The person may feel attacked when corrected even when it is done with the intention of achieving positive criticism. The immediate reaction from such an individual is to become defensive and therefore resulting in a conflict. People can also find themselves in an interpersonal conflict if they fail to agree. Values and perceptions differ from one person to another. These incongruent views might be as a result of different socio-economic class, race, occupations, education, experience, culture, upbringing and other environmental factors.
 People do things differently, the methods used to attain goals can differ from person to person. For example, the priorities set in achieving the expected outcomes might be different. At the workplace where duties are conducted by teams, deciding what to give high or low priority and what procedure to follow to achieve the desired results might lead to conflicts.

Interpersonal conflicts may also be as a result of competition for supremacy where every person seeks to outdo the other. Such instances are frequent especially in situations where the superior person might get a reward such as a job promotion in a company. However, the primary cause of interpersonal conflict is poor communication. When people engage in a conversation, incorrect interpretations made by the listener about the speaker’s intentions in most cases leads to interpersonal conflicts.
 From a personal perspective, it is clear that people will always find themselves in interpersonal conflicts. However, some methods can be used to solve these disputes or prevent them from occurring in the future. The interest-based relational approach is one of the ways to resolving interpersonal conflicts; it entails respecting people’s differences to help them not become too fixed in their position. When implementing the strategy to address a conflict in the working environment, managers have to treat people with respect and should understand how to separate people and problems (MindTools, 2017). To achieve this, the manager should focus on the problem and not the person presenting the issue.
There are five steps to follow when implementing the approach. The first one is setting the scene; this is achieved through making people from the conflicting parties understand that solutions are attained through negotiations and discussions. The second step is gathering information by asking the opposite parties their viewpoints and respecting their opinions. The third step involves agreeing on the problem so that every person involved understands what needs to be resolved. The fourth part is brainstorming solution, at this stage, it is essential to make sure that everyone feels involved in the discussion. The last part is negotiating a solution. At this stage, the conflict might have been resolved. However, if the problem has not been solved, techniques like win-win situations can be used to make sure that the solution benefits everyone. In conclusion, there is no guaranteed method of ensuring that interpersonal conflicts do not occur, for this reason, it is necessary to be willing to find a solution when they happen by being open to communication and discussion.
References
Bao, Y., Zhu, F., Hu, Y., & Cui, N. (2016). The Research of Interpersonal Conflict and Solution Strategies. Psychology, 7(04), 541.
MindTools. (2017). Conflict Resolution: Using “The Interest-Based Relational” Approach. Mindtools.com. Retrieved 30 January 2018, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_81.htm