Particular Human Interaction, Situation, or Activity - 1650 Words

Particular Human Interaction, Situation, or Activity (Essay Sample) Content: TitleNameUniversity Conflicts in human interaction Social interaction is a continous process in which people relate to the people with their surrounding ones. It includes the acts that people carry out towards each other as well as the responses they give as a return. Social interaction is made up of a vast number of behaviors. The behaviors are categorized into five types: conflict, coercion, cooperation, exchange, and competition. The most fundamental type of social interaction is exchange. This is defined as a process whereby people interact with the aim of getting a reward. The reward can be tangible or non-tangible. For example, one can work for a firm so as to earn a living. Such a person receives a paycheck. If the behavior is rewarded it tends to be repeated. If the behavior is not rewarded then it is not repeated. Coercion is a type of human interactions in which a person is forced into something they are unwilling to engage in. For example, a person may be blackmailed by another not to let out a secret, for instance, not to report a burglary to the police department. Competition is a type of human interaction whereby two or more individuals strive to achieve an objective or a goal that can only be attained by one person. Competition motivates people to achieve goals. It also has adverse effects, as it can lead to conflicts or psychological stress. Another type of human interactions is cooperation. It is the process in which people work as a term so as to achieve a common goal. When people work as a group, they can complete tasks more efficiently. This is because many opinions are brought together as they brainstorm. Conflict is the other type of human interaction. It refers to a disagreement between people who hold different views or principles about something. This paper explores conflict as a type of human interaction.Conflicts have existed from time immemorial. Conflicts occur when people believe by thinking that their interests, a reas of concerns or desires are at risk or threatened. They provide a lot of opportunities for intensification and growth, through improved insight and understanding. There are several understandings involved when it comes to conflicts. First, a level of difference between the parties involved exists. Conflicts are brought about by misunderstandings that tend to exaggerate the disagreement in a great way. In a conflict, there are parties involved. These are the individuals or groups that do not agree with each other on some perspectives. People who make up social systems are invited to participate in a dispute so as to solve it. For example, if a couple is having a major disagreement, they can seek the help of a marriage counselor. Sometimes people take sides when they feel that an individual who is involved in a conflict is right, and the other is wrong. Taking sides can also be influenced by the relationships with the people participating in the conflict. This implies that in solv ing disputes, the parties involved tend to be subjective (Webne-Behrman, 2006).Needs, concerns, and interests also influence conflicts. Most of the time, the dispute is narrowed to a simple problem. However, some conflicts tend to be more complex than others. For example, in the workplace, a conflict could emerge because of different perspectives individuals hold as well as their attitudes towards each other. In such a case, to solve a conflict, psychological as well as procedural needs within the conflict must be addressed. A conflict also contains a perceived threat. When people feel that something does not work in their favor, they tend to respond to it. They do not consider the real threat in most cases, as they only want to safeguard their interests. Perception never becomes reality. However, it influences the peoples feelings, responses, and behaviors. For a conflict to be solved, individuals must find out what the true threat is, so as to work on it (Webne-Behrman, 2006). Con flicts are therefore regular and predictable situations. They naturally arise as people go about their daily activities. People should, therefore, come up with procedures for identifying conflicts that are likely to occur. Doing this before they happen makes it easier for them to be solved when they eventually occur. Systems through which conflicts can be managed and solved for good should also be developed. In this way, conflicts can be transformed into productive learning and growth experiences. A Win-Win approach can be adopted at the organizational level so as to solve conflicts.Several conflict styles exist, and each of them bears some consequences. One of them is competing. In this style, a person tends to advocate for their needs over those of others. It is based on a lot of aggression, exercise of coercive power, and it has low regard for future relationships. Individuals who are involved in this type of conflict feel that they should dominate discussions about the conflicts . They feel that they should be in control so that their needs and interests are protected. The levels of threats are increased due to competition. In this sanitation, people need to embrace a good attitude towards others. Competition is also a goal oriented thing and therefore, one has to do something expecting a good result depending on the life aspectAvoiding is a typical response to conflicts. This involves failure to bring up a conflict as it will lead to more trouble. Individuals merely choose not to raise their issues or concerns. It can occur because of the fear of being labeled a troublemaker. This has adverse effects. When persons fail to express their views and decide to bottle it up, there is a danger of letting it all out at some point. A conflict keeps on growing bigger over time, and as a wound, it festers. Finally, it has to be let out. At this point, a conflict is usually out of hand and tough to solve. Individuals should ensure that they do not let a situation to g o out of control before they start dealing with it. Conflicts must be resolved immediately they occur (Webne-Behrman, 2006). Conflict can be handled through collaborating. This involves airing all issues and concerns raised by parties in dispute and working towards actually solving them. This is also referred to as win-win problem-solving approach. Aggression is entirely avoided in all its forms, physical or verbal. Open-mindedness is employed in this approach. Assertive communication is adopted in this plan. Cooperation is also emphasized as it offers better solutions to disputes. Everyone is invited to give their views and support them. A chance for consensus is offered to the conflicting parties. People get to express themselves fully and resolve the conflicts meaningfully. This is the best problem-solving so far as every party has its issues treated with equal importance as those of others. This approach creates learning opportunities out of problems, which could have otherwise caused more harm than good (Rickards, 1997).Smoothing, or accommodating is another style of conflict. People in this type of conflict try to be diplomatic. They give up their interests and needs in favor of those of others. They disregard their needs as though they are unimportant, even when they are. They allow the needs and interests of the other party to overwhelm theirs. They adopt the approach known as lose-win; whereby they are always on the losing end. Such people tend to be disgruntled at their workplaces as their needs are never addressed. A lose-win approach to problem solving is not a recommended method of solving conflicts. This is because more problems tend to arise in the future as the present ones are never entirely solved (Rickards, 1997).Another approach to conflict is compromising. In this approach, people engage in tradeoffs. They deal with some issues and let others go unsolved. This method is satisfactory as both parties have some of their concerns addressed. However, it is not entirely fulfilling as one would like to have all their concerns addressed. Rickards, 1997 says that people need to be much creative to survive, new thinking of something which is meaningful could help add...