scholarly journals The Achievement of Conflict-Related Goals Leads to Satisfaction with Conflict Outcomes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Robert Dunaetz

Interpersonal conflict, a process involving perceptions of differences and opposition, is often an undesired but inevitable consequence of interaction between individuals. Multiple goals (internal representations of desired states) can be present in interpersonal conflict. Past studies identify four major categories of conflict-related goals: content goals, relationship goals, identity goals, and process goals; the last three may be classified together as social goals. Several hypotheses were tested in an online experiment in which adult members of evangelical churches (N = 276) imagined themselves in various church-related conflict situations. Participants were assigned to one of two conditions; in one condition, participants read scenarios where their content goals were achieved and in the other condition, participants read scenarios where their content goals were not achieved. Each participant read a series of three scenarios involving the different types of social goals. For each of the three scenarios, they imagined how satisfied they would be with two different outcomes. In the first outcome, in addition to achieving or not achieving their content goal (depending on the condition), they did not achieve the social goal that was made salient (e.g., the relationship is damaged or they lose face); in the second outcome, they achieved this social goal. In addition, participants completed individual difference measures of dominance, sociability, face threat sensitivity, and justice sensitivity. This study found support for the hypothesis that the achievement of each type of conflict-related goal leads to greater satisfaction with the conflict outcome than not achieving the goal. It also found support for the hypothesis that the achievement of two conflict-related goals (specifically, a content goal and a social goal) interact to lead to greater satisfaction with the conflict outcome beyond the main effects of achieving each goal individually. Additionally, this study tested hypotheses that individual differences (dominance, sociability, face threat sensitivity, and justice sensitivity) moderate the relationship between conflict-related goal achievement and conflict outcome satisfaction. Support was only found for the hypothesis that individuals higher in sociability report greater differences in satisfaction when their relationship goals are achieved (relative to not achieved) than those who score lower in sociability.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Robert Dunaetz

Conflict, a process involving perceptions of differences and opposition, is often an undesired but inevitable consequence of social interaction. This review describes the various goals (internal representations of desired states) that can be present in interpersonal conflict. Several streams of research are examined: conflict motivational models which examine the conflicting parties’ motives, conflict types which classify conflicts by the parties’ conscious focus, and desired outcome models which seek to identify what the parties in a conflict desire to happen. An integrative summary of these streams of research identifies four major categories of conflict goals: content goals, relationship goals, identity goals, and process goals. Further research is needed to clarify the nature of these goals, as well increase our understanding of the relationship between conflict goals, conflict outcomes, and conflict behavior in various contexts. Such research may lead to more constructive conflict management and more satisfying conflict resolution.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Dunaetz

Interpersonal conflict surrounding church programs is a major source of distress for both pastoral staff and lay members of evangelical churches. Such conflict, when destructive, may severely hinder the achievement of program objectives. However, conflict when managed constructively may lead to a more effective program and strengthened relationships. This empirical study seeks to understand the conditions under which program-related conflict in evangelical churches leads to detrimental outcomes and those which lead to constructive outcomes. In a role-playing, survey-based experiment of American church attenders ( N = 276), participants’ satisfaction with conflict outcome was measured in a scenario with various outcomes concerning their program-related goal (maintaining the starting time of a mid-week children’s program) and their social goals (e.g., having a better relationship with the director of the children’s program, being affirmed in their Christian identity, and ensuring that decisions are made fairly). The study indicates that, in a conflict concerning a children’s program, church attenders who have a salient social goal achieved, but not their program-related goal, will be more satisfied than church attenders who have their program-related goal achieved but not a salient social goal.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Robert Dunaetz

Interpersonal conflict surrounding church programs is a major source of distress for both pastoral staff and lay members of evangelical churches. Such conflict, when destructive, may severely hinder the achievement of program objectives. However, conflict when managed constructively may lead to a more effective program and strengthened relationships. This empirical study seeks to understand the conditions under which program-related conflict in evangelical churches leads to detrimental outcomes and those which lead to constructive outcomes. In a role-playing, survey-based experiment of American church attenders (N = 276), participants’ satisfaction with conflict outcome was measured in a scenario with various outcomes concerning their program-related goal (maintaining the starting time of a mid-week children’s program) and their social goals (e.g., having a better relationship with the director of the children’s program, being affirmed in their Christian identity, and ensuring that decisions are made fairly). The study indicates that, in a conflict concerning a children’s program, church attenders who have a salient social goal achieved, but not their program-related goal, will be more satisfied than church attenders who have their program-related goal achieved but not a salient social goal.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-14
Author(s):  
Edward W. Miles ◽  
Jeff Schatten ◽  
Elizabeth Chapman

Purpose Face threat sensitivity (FTS) has been found to influence objective negotiated outcomes when the threat to face is activated. The purpose of this study is to extend that research by testing whether FTS – which is defined as a propensity to act – is associated with the outcomes of negotiators when the threat has not been specifically activated. Face theory specifies that face threats can cause individuals to take proactive steps to avoid threats before they might occur. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on face theory and social role theory, the authors conduct a negotiation experiment and use hierarchical regression to test hypotheses concerning the relationship between FTS for sellers and buyers on negotiated outcomes in both distributive and integrative negotiations. The authors also use moderated regression to test if gender moderates the relationship between buyer and seller FTS and negotiation outcomes. Findings Results show that, when the threat is not activated, high FTS buyers pay more than low FTS buyers. Consistent with face theory and social role theory, this effect is moderated by gender, with the association being stronger for women buyers than for men buyers. Originality/value This paper exhibits that FTS can influence negotiator behavior even when FTS is not activated. This is valuable to negotiation scholars and practitioners who are interested in the role that individual characteristics play in negotiation behavior.


1968 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 606-617
Author(s):  
Mohammad Anisur Rahman

The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the relationship between the degree of aggregate labour-intensity and the aggregate volume of saving in an economy where a Cobb-6ouglas production function in its traditional form can be assumed to give a good approximation to reality. The relationship in ques¬tion has an obviously important bearing on economic development policy in the area of choice of labour intensity. To the extent that and in the range where an increase in labour intensity would adversely affect the volume of savings, a con¬flict arises between two important social objectives, i.e., higher rate of capital formation on the one hand and greater employment and distributive equity on the other. If relative resource endowments in the economy are such that such a "competitive" range of labour-intensity falls within the nation's attainable range of choice, development planners will have to arrive at a compromise between these two social goals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
You-Juan Hong ◽  
Rong-Mao Lin ◽  
Rong Lian

We examined the relationship between social class and envy, and the role of victim justice sensitivity in this relationship among a group of 1,405 Chinese undergraduates. The students completed measures of subjective social class, victim justice sensitivity, and dispositional envy. The results show that a lower social class was significantly and negatively related to envy and victim justice sensitivity, whereas victim justice sensitivity was significantly and positively related to envy. As predicted, a lower social class was very closely correlated with envy. In addition, individuals with a lower (vs. higher) social class had a greater tendency toward victim justice sensitivity, which, in turn, increased their envy. Overall, our results advance scholarly research on the psychology of social hierarchy by clarifying the relationship between social class and the negative emotion of envy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 808 ◽  
pp. 359-363
Author(s):  
Cristina Feniser ◽  
Florin Lungu

So far little attention has been given the differences or the compatibilities between CSR and innovation. Few works treats CSR in combination with innovation. What exactly is the relationship between CSR and innovation? Recent phenomena such as open innovation is based on the concept that the stakeholder's dialogue that overlaps with some dimensions of CSR. Being innovative means to bring organizational and technical improvements which will translate into a better position in the market. These improvements don't just aim the product, but the process by which it is obtained and its whole life-cycle. We're talking about a new approach to innovation, namely its orientation towards sustainability. Although SMEs have many features which facilitate implementation of CSR, activities of this type in such organizations are still limited. SMEs managers often make choices that are related to rational management. This leads to divergence between economical and social goals. Through a qualitative exploration of the concepts of CSR and innovation, we wanted to find out from some managers whether there is a link between innovation and CSR in SMEs and whether the activities corresponding to the two concepts overlap in a certain measure.


2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agneta Breitholtz ◽  
Ingrid Snellman ◽  
Ingegerd Fagerberg

The aim of this study was to illuminate the meaning of professional carers’ experiences in caring situations when a conflict of interest arises with the older person receiving care. The findings reveal the complexity of the carers’ ambivalence when facing a conflict of interest, weighing up between the older persons’ right to self-determination and external demands. The carers are alone in their ambivalence, and the conclusion is that they need help and support to be more present in the encounter. The implication for this study is to focus on care as a person-centered practice and to focus on people as interdependent on support carers to maintain older people’s right to self-determination in the relationship.


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