Civility: Credo Reference

The word conflict, in its capacities both as a noun and as a verb, is pressed into service ubiquitously in the world of human affairs. The conditions and dynamics of conflict attract scholarly attention from the humanities; the social, behavioral, and military sciences; the performing arts; and the fine arts. These collections of academic disciplines intersect where individual and collective bodies of identities and forces (persons, families, groups, communities, organizations, institutions, and nation-states) clash and compete for resources (anything of value). This entry provides an overview of conflict, characterizes its most prominent models, describes the models’ core concepts, sketches a critique of those models, and provides a brief overview of the development of an emerging theoretical orientation.

Interpersonal communication is a dynamic and complex human phenomenon that includes at least two communicators. These communicators intentionally orient toward each other as both subject and object whose actions embody each other’s perspectives both toward self and toward other. In essence, interpersonal communication is a goal-driven interaction between at least two people that typically occurs in a face-to-face environment.

Conflict in organizations has received considerable attention in the business, psychology, and communication literatures. Nevertheless, a concise definition of conflict is lacking across studies and disciplines. In fact, researchers often provide definitions that differ from one study to another or fail to define conflict as it is measured in their studies. There is some agreement, however, that conflict takes place between two or more parties and constitutes a disagreement, an interference, and a negative emotional reaction. Two widely accepted sources of conflict are task conflict and relationship conflict. Furthermore, conflict can occur at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup levels.

Mediation is a process designed to manage and resolve conflicts between two or more parties. As a facilitated negotiation, mediation provides the parties with the opportunity to identify their interests and needs, present their ideas for possible solutions, explore those options and alternatives, and come to collaborative solutions. Mediation is facilitated by a mediator, whose role is to guide the parties through the process without determining the outcome. Mediation is thus a conflict management and resolution process designed to provide parties with an alternative to more formal, time-consuming, and potentially expensive litigation.