ASSESSING THE CHARACTER OF THE CONFLICT I, Premises of Deutsch’s Theory

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Conflict Management HRM624

Lesson 16

ASSESSING THE CHARACTER OF THE CONFLICT I

Quotations:

"There are two educations, one should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live" John

Adams

"Nothing is given to man on earth - struggle is built into the nature of life, and conflict is possible - the hero

is the man who lets no obstacle prevent him from pursuing the values he has chosen." Andrew Bernstein

Conflict is either Constructive or Destructive

Constructive Conflict

Transforming Competitive Conflict into Comparative Conflict

In this lecture we will try to examine the four components of Morton Deutsch's theory of constructive and

destructive conflict. Why Morton Deutsch thought that cooperation is more likely than competition to

produce constructive conflict? Why conflict has the amazing capacity to become what the disputants think

it is? Why it's easier for a cooperative conflict to become competitive than vice versa? What is the criterion

for assessing a conflict as cooperative or competitive? What are the strategies and tactics for turning a

competitive conflict into a cooperative one?

"Grief and disappointment give rise to anger, anger to envy, envy to malice, and malice to grief again, till the

whole circle is completed." How can we break this cycle? We will learn, cooperation is better than

competition.

Perception becomes reality in cooperation and competition ("Deutsch's crude axiom").

Morton Deutsch's Theory of Constructive and Destructive Conflict

Deutch's ideas about what makes conflict constructive and destructive are well summarized in his 1973

wok, "The Resolution of Conflict: Constructive and Destructive Processes".

1. Conflict is either cooperative or competitive.

2. Cooperation tends to be constructive, and competition tends to be destructive.

3. Cooperation and competition tend to be self-fulfilling prophecies: Perception becomes reality.

4. Cooperation easily turns into competition, but not vice versa.

Premises of Deutsch's Theory

1. Cooperative conflict

A conflict in which the disputants believe that, when one disputant helps him- or herself, the other

disputant is also helped.

2. Competitive conflict

A conflict in which the disputants believe that, when one disputant helps him- or herself, the other

disputant is humble or quite or less powerful.

3. Autistic hostility

A phenomenon in which hostile feelings promote a lack of communication, leading to negative attributions

about the acts, attitudes, and motivations of the other person is termed as autistic hostility. Because of the

lack of effective communication, neither disputant is able to correct misperceptions.

Conflict Management HRM624

4. Reactive Devaluation

A phenomenon present in escalating conflict, in which a suggestion made by one disputant, or members of

his or her team, is met with suspicion by the other disputant, or members of his or her team may be

described as reactive devaluation.

5. Meta-Conflict (meta-dispute)

An interpersonal conflict (dispute) over the way another interpersonal conflict is being handled.

Premises of Deutsch's Theory

How the conflict is characterized in the minds of the disputants.

Since a cooperative conflict is perceived as promotively interdependent, the disputant perceiving a conflict

as cooperative will tend to see the conflict as a joint problem to be solved i.e. if the problem is solved for

one disputant, it will also tend to be solved for the other.

Communication in cooperation and competition

Since the disputant in a cooperative conflict sees the goals of the other disputant as promoting his or her

own interests, it appears to be in his or her best interests to share as much information as possible.

Cooperation is characterized by open, honest communication of relevant information. In contrast, since the

interests of disputants in a competitive conflict are seen to be in opposition, competition is characterized by

efforts on the part of the perceiving disputant to avoid open and honest communication. In competitive

conflict, disputants tend to be suspicious of one another, fearing that information they share will be used

against them.

Coordination of Effort in cooperation and competition

Since a disputant who sees the conflict as cooperative believes that the other disputant's efforts will help

him or her, the disputant will tend to try to coordinate his or her efforts with those of the other disputants.

Efforts of the disputants on One Another's Behalf

Obviously, a disputant who believes that meeting the other disputant's interests will meet his or her own

interests has good reason to help the other disputantants: it will help him or her as well.

Responses to the Suggestions of the other disputant

The reactions of one disputant to suggestions by the other disputants are controlled by the attitudes

engendered by their perceptions in cooperative conflict, a disputant will tend to see the suggestions of the

other disputants as motivated by a sincere desire to help, since everyone's goals are perceived to be

complementary. Conflict, suggestions tend to be welcomed, approved of, or at least taken at face value

Feelings of the Disputants for one another

There is a great deal of evidence from social psychological research indicating that disputants in a

cooperative relationship tend to develop feelings of friendliness and positive regard for one another.

Effect of Cooperation behavior on the disputants' Egos

In a cooperative conflict, cooperating with the other disputant is a comfortable outgrowth of the self

interest of each disputant. The feelings of friendliness that tend to grow out of a cooperative relationship

further motivate the disputants to be helpful to one another.

Perception of Similarity and difference

The positive and negative regard that cooperating and competing disputants hold for each other have

indication for their perceptions about one another. People who like one another tend to focus on, and even

inflate, mutual similarities, while they tend to ignore differences.

Conflict Management HRM624

Task focus in cooperation and competition

The disputant who perceives a conflict as cooperative believes that he or she helps him or herself by helping

the other disputant; he or she tends to stay focus on the task at hand. Thus cooperation tends to be

characterized by task focus and efficiency.

Productivity, containment, and escalation of cooperative and competitive conflict

A cooperative conflict tends to be characterized by contained size and maximal productivity. There are

several reasons for this feature of cooperative conflict.

Summary

Understanding the nature of cooperative and competitive conflict is very important. It can help you

transform competitive conflict into cooperative or promotive conflict. It is your attitude which will make it

either of the two types of conflict. It is very easy for a cooperative conflict to evolve in a competitive

conflict. We can avoid that if we want to.

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