SEMINARS

Conflict Resolution and Negotiations In Organizations
March – June 2000

Content

 

An Introduction to the Psychological aspects of Conflict Resolution

Dr. Ahmed Baker

Prediction and Expectation

When we talk about conflict resolution, it is very important to note that the worst conflict occurs within the self. Conflict with others can be handled in one way or another, but conflict within the self is complicated. Psychology, the study of human behavior, is more scientific now than in the days of Freud, and includes many complicated aspects. The core of psychology, however, is about predicting and understanding behavior, which is also the objective of conflict resolution.

At times it is possible to predict behavior, and at other times it is not. The following two exercises will illustrate this point.

Exercise 1:

One participant leaves the room, and the remaining participants choose an object in the room. The instructor has a few words with the one outside, who will return and know the object chosen.

The participants choose a map.

The participant comes in and is asked to identify the object that his colleagues chose.

Is it this recorder? - Participant: No

Is it my shirt? - Participant: No

Is it this glass? - Participant: No

Is it Mohammed’s shirt? - Participant: No

Is it Amany’s bracelet? - Participant: No

Is it the map in the middle? - Participant: Yes

(The group repeats the exercise with those in the room choosing a book called 'Palestine. The participant outside once again guesses the correct object, after being asked about some other objects).

Exercise 2:

Instructor: I have a concept called GIZ. Do you know how to identify GIZ?

Participants: No.

Instructor: I predict that all of you will know how to identify GIZ. I will draw some things, and will indicate whether or not they are GIZ. I will not give you any other indication, therefore you should all pay attention.

These are all GIZ

 		       

These are all not GIZ

Instructor: Now I will test you. Which one of the following is GIZ?

(A) (B) (C)

Participants: Most choose B.

Instructor: B is correct. Now can you define GIZ?

Participant: GIZ is a rectangle with any small shape (rectangle, star, triangle…etc) in its upper right corner.

Instructor: Why did you guess about the meaning of GIZ now, when you were not able to do so before? That is psychology. This is how we can predict behavior.

In conflict resolution it is necessary to predict behavior. In order to predict behavior the following factors are important:

  1. one should have enough information;
  2. one should be able to follow a certain pattern;
  3. the pattern should be systematic.

In Exercise 1 above, I made an agreement with your colleague that the object you choose would be the third object I would name after naming a white object. We agreed on a system, without which he could not have predicted the correct selection.

In psychology, many factors play a role in predicting. A social person affects and is affected by his or her environment, a two-way process that occurs on both perceivable and non-perceivable levels.

The following scenario will illustrate this point. A family consisting of a doctor, his wife and their little baby are all sleeping. At midnight, the baby starts crying. The mother wakes up immediately, while the father continues to sleep. After one hour, the phone rings. This time, the doctor wakes up immediately, while the mother stays asleep.

The important factor here is expectation, which enables us to become aware of certain things. The doctor expects the phone to ring. The mother expects her baby to cry. Expectation is useful in conflict resolution. Expectation enables one to achieve prediction. People often fail to notice things that they do not expect. We as humans are programmed not to be aware of everything, for this is impossible. There is a mechanism is our central nervous system that blocks certain events and allows others to pass through, depending on the importance of the event.

Examples: During the Intifada, one of the youngsters sees an Israeli soldier and runs away. He jumps over a wall and injures his leg; however, he does not feel the pain and he does not notice that it is swelling. When he arrives at a safe place, he begins feeling the pain. If he had noticed the injury immediately after jumping the soldier would have caught him.

Similarly, if I am walking in Paris and one of you passes by me, I will not notice him or her because I am not expecting any of you to be in Paris.

Therefore, expectation is a very important factor in psychology. With regard to conflict resolution, each side must understand their own expectations and how they affect their behavior, as well as understanding the expectations of the other side.

In addition to prediction and expectation, the third principle of psychology is motivation.

Motivation

There is no behavior without motivation. Behavior is not spontaneous. Motivation can be external or internal.

Internal Motivation

  1. The strongest and most important motivation is receiving attention. We as human beings are willing to do strange things in order to receive attention from others; we cannot accept being ignored. Therefore the option of ignoring, of not paying attention, is a powerful instrument of prediction and control. If you do not like certain behavior from the other side, the worst thing to do is to argue with them. You will become exhausted, and the other side will be happy. Attention can be used either to your advantage or to your disadvantage. I can reinforce desired behavior on the part of the other side simply by paying attention to it. Attention is a tool that must be employed with discretion, especially in conflict resolution. Attention is universal.
  2. Rejection: Rejection is also a universal factor, for no one likes to experience emotional rejection. For example, if you and I are friends and I suddenly tell you that I do not want you to be my friend anymore, you will feel hurt, anger and hostility at this rejection.
  3. Power and sex: Sex does not mean sexual intercourse. People who work in marketing analyze these factors when advertising products. Have you ever seen a TV commercial without some sort of sexual implication? Of course not. Sex is a very important drive, which Freud understood. One should also examine his or her own self to see what motivates him or her. The other inner motivator is the feeling of power. People will do anything to be in power, because it satisfies and fulfills certain needs. Power and rejection are very dangerous, however, and if you misuse them the other side will resent you.

External Motivation

External motivations are often associated with internal motivations. One example of an external motivation is money. The reason that people desire money, however, is because it provides for most of their needs. External motivators vary according to different people.

Motivation lies behind every behavior. To understand a person’s behavior, you must ask yourself what he is hoping to gain. In most cases, this gain is internal. In order to predict these internal needs, you have to have information and a pattern. In order to be able to obtain a pattern you have to observe. Observation is not only external, but also includes underlying factors known as ‘hidden observation.’

The ability to observe is not easy, and can be achieved only by practice. One must listen more than one speaks. Furthermore, listening is not simply hearing, but involves attention. One must also observe the non-verbal gestures of others. Observation is very critical in conflict resolution.

The Personality

All contemporary theories about the personality are of western origin. I believe that while some theories on personality apply to those of us in the ‘east’, others do not. Every theory has a basis, and does not evolve from a void. Freud’s theory of personality is based on sex, and states that behavior is based on internal motivations, one of which is libido. Although Freud’s theory has been proven inaccurate, it is the only comprehensive theory to ever have been presented.

The personality has many definitions, but in general it represents a fixed pattern of behavior.

Maslow’s theory discovered another aspect of human beings, which is the Psychology of Being.

Self-actualization is a moment; it is not a lasting or stable state. Self-actualization is the situation in which a person has no other need. In the moment of self-actualization, the person has no self-conflict, has no need and does not feel that he or she is impotent.

The term self-actualization is not often used in conflict resolution, because a person who has achieved self-actualization is not in conflict. He considers himself to be a universal human, and is spiritually saturated. Conflict involves a central need for social recognition. Maslow's theory is not a theory of the personality, but rather a theory of internal needs. It is more universal because it was taken from the eastern culture. People who are not at the stage of self-actualization are the ones who go into conflict resolution, and the conflict is often over social status. Behavior is not hereditary, but the readiness to adopt a certain behavior can be as the presence of certain factors can lead to adopting such behavior.

When seeking social status you understand only your own needs and not the needs of others. By putting yourself in perspective you will acknowledge the conflicts both with other people and within yourself. The next step is to identify the type of conflict between you and the other person and within yourself. Most of the time our conflicts are associated with our needs. To solve a case of conflict with another person you have to pass the stress stage. The stress stage appears before the problem itself, but the fear of the thing before it happens creates stress. In conflict resolution you first have to find a way to understand yourself and understand the other person, which again employs the skills of listening.

A second theory of the personality is called ‘individuation’, which holds that every person desires to attain an individual identity. Western societies are based upon individuation. Our eastern societies, however, are based on collectivity. Asian, African and Latin societies are collective, and their origins are tribal. The individual in these societies is less important than the collective. The self is defined as a society, rather than as an individual. In western societies the opposite is true; the individual is the most important element.

All personality theories currently available in the world are based on individuation, which developed after the state started taking on some of the tasks of the tribe. If the state is absent, the best solution is the collective society. Individual concepts can not be applied to collective societies, for the collective personality is very different from the individuated personality. The individuated personality can be envisioned by the above theories, but in a collective society the individual has no critical consideration; he is part of the larger existence which is the group. The survival of the individual is based on the survival of the group. Therefore conflict resolution between individuals in a collective society does not occur between the individuals themselves, but between the groups.

Democracy means nothing in a collective society. Being in a collective society means trading personal freedom for social support and protection. In an individuated society you achieve personal freedom, but you do not get social support. Both societies have certain advantages and disadvantages, but the important point is that the behavior of the individual in both types of society is different. The personality of the individual in a collective society is different from that of the individuated society; each has different psychological dynamics. In an individuated society the individual feels guilt, in a collective society the individual does not feel guilt, he or she feels shame.

The individual in a collective society deals with conflict resolution by either adapting and adjusting to the norms of the society because the individual is helpless (which does not necessarily mean he or she agrees with these norms) or by gossip to relieve the tension.

Therefore, when we think of conflict resolution in a collective society we have to perceive it from an oriental or eastern perspective. Conflict resolution in our context is reliant on certain causal psychological factors being addressed as well as the development of an awareness of the psychological factors involved in negotiation and understanding that facilitate the process of resolution.