Defining Conflict

Definitions of conflict abound, and the search for a single all-encompassing definition of conflict is a difficult endeavor. For the purposes of training individuals in conflict management and negotiation skills, such an endeavor is not only difficult but also unnecessary.

When providing conflict management training, it is important that the participants understand the elements that coalesce to define conflict from their own perspective and experience. Therefore, the appropriate definition of conflict is largely a matter of personal experience and context. For one person, conflict may appear as a state or situation, while for another, conflict may be conceived as a behavior or process. When one’s task is to assist individuals in better understanding and addressing conflict, something which is deeply and intricately woven into the cloth of human experience, it is of little value extolling the validity of one definition over another. What is of the most value is creating meaning for the learner.

Ultimately, most definitions of conflict have much in common and are separated largely by contextual details. Effectively teaching the meaning of conflict requires the presentation of multiple, valid definitions that the learner can chose from to find the definition that resonates with his or her experience and perspective.

When learners possesses a technical definition of conflict that is relevant to them, they acquire their first tool in the process of conflict analysis. The individuals can utilize the definition of conflict that makes the most sense to them for broadly outlining the conflict(s) they are currently addressing. Alone, this tool provides little value, but as a starting point for developing an understanding of the dynamics of conflict, it can be a very useful device.

CON·FLICT (ˈKÄNˌFLIKT/)

“Social conflict is a struggle between opponents over values and claims to scarce status, power and resources.” (L. Coser, The Functions of Social Conflict, 1956)
“Conflict is a breakdown in the standard mechanisms of decision making, so that an individual or group experiences difﬁculty in selecting an alternative.” (J. G. March & H. A. Simon, Organizations, 1958)
“Conflicts that are strategic are essentially bargaining situations in which the ability of one participant to gain his ends is dependent on the choices or decisions that the other participant will make.” (T. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 1960)
“Conﬂict is a situation in which the conditions, practices, or goals for the different participants are inherently incompatible.” (C. G. Smith, Administrative Science Quarterly, 1966)
“Conflicts involve struggles between two or more people over values, or competition for status, power, or scarce resources (L. Coser, Continuities in the Study of Social Conflict, 1967)
“Conﬂict is a type of behavior which occurs when two or more parties are in opposition or in battle as a result of a perceived relative deprivation from the activities of or interacting with another person or group.” (J. A. Litterer, Academy of Management Journal, 1966)
“Conflict occurs in any social situation or process in which two or more social entities are linked by at least one form of antagonistic psychological relation or at least one form of antagonistic interaction.” (C. F. Fink, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 1968)
“A conflict exists whenever incompatible activities occur . . . one party is interfering, disrupting, obstructing, or in some other way making another party’s actions less effective.” (M. Deutsch, The Resolution of Conflict, 1973)
“Conflict is an interactive state in which the behaviors or goals of one actor are to some degree incompatible with the behaviors or goals of some other actor or actors.” (J. T. Tedeschi, B. R. Schlenker & T. V. Bonoma, Conflict, Power and Games, 1973)
“Conflict is a process in which two or more parties attempt to frustrate the other’s goal attainment . . . the factors underlying conflict are threefold: interdependence, differences in goals, and differences in perceptions.” (J. A. Wall, Negotiation, 1985)
“Conflict is the opposition of forces.” (L. S. Kahn, Peacemaking, 1988)
Conflict is “a process of social interaction involving a struggle over claims to resources, power and status, beliefs, and other preferences and desires. The aims of the parties in conflict may extend from simply attempting to gain acceptance of a preference, or securing a resource advantage, to the extremes of injuring or eliminating opponents.” (H. Bisno, Managing Conflict, 1988)
“Conflict means perceived divergence of interest, or a belief that the parties’ current aspirations cannot be achieved simultaneously.” (D. Pruitt & J. Rubin, Social Conflict, 1986)
“Conflicts are communicative interactions among people who are interdependent and who perceive that their interests are incompatible, inconsistent, or in tension.” (C. Conrad, Communication Monographs, 1991)
“A conflict exists when two people wish to carry out acts which are mutually inconsistent. They may both want to do the same thing…or they may want to do different things where the different things are mutually incompatible…A conflict is resolved when some mutually compatible set of actions is worked out. The definition of conflict can be extended from individuals to groups (such as states or nations), and more than two parties can be involved in the conflict. The principles remain the same.” (M. Nicholson, Rationality and the Analysis of International Conflict, 1992)
“Conflict – incompatible activities – occurs within cooperative as well as competitive contexts . . . conflict parties’ can hold cooperative or competitive goals.” (D. Tjosvold & E. van de Vliert, Mediation Quarterly, 1994)
“In the organizational context, conflict is an expression of dissatisfaction or disagreement with an interaction, process, product or service.” (C. A. Constantino & C. Merchant-Sickles, Designing Conflict Management Systems, 1996)
“Conflict is the interaction of interdependent people who perceive incompatible goals and interference from each other in achieving those goals.” (J. P. Folger, M. S. Poole & R. K. Stutman, Working Through Conflict, 1997)
“Conflict is present when two or more parties perceive that their interests are incompatible, express hostile attitudes, or…pursue their interests through actions that damage the other parties. These parties may be individuals, small or large groups, and countries.” (A. P. Schmid, Quoting Lund in Thesaurus and Glossary of Early Warning and Conflict Prevention Terms, 1998)
Conflict is “a social factual situation in which at least two parties (individuals, groups, states) are involved, and who: i) strive for goals which are incompatible to begin with or strive for the same goal, which, can only be reached by one party; and/or ii) want to employ incompatible means to achieve a certain goal.” (A. P. Schmid, Quoting Wasmuth in Thesaurus and Glossary of Early Warning and Conflict Prevention Terms, 1998)
“Conflict is the perception of differences of interests among people.” (L. Thompson, The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator, 1998)
“Conflict is the competition between interdependent parties who perceive that they have incompatible needs, goals, desires, or ideas.” (E. J.Van Slyke, Listening to Conflict, 1999)
“Conﬂict is an interactive process manifested in incompatibility, disagreement, or dissonance within or between social entities (i.e. individual, group, organization, etc.).” (M. A. Rahim, Managing Conflict in Organizations, 2001)
“A process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party.” (R. Kreitner & A. Kinicki, Organizational Behavior, 2004)
“Conflict is caused when a boundary and its norms are challenged, threatened, or circumvented.” (G. T. Furlong, The Conflict Resolution Toolbox, 2005)
Conflict is “the clashing of interests (positional differences) on national values of some duration and magnitude between at least two parties (organized groups, states, groups of states, organizations) that are determined to pursue their interests and win their cases.” (A. Heinz-Jürgen, A. Milososki & O. Schwarz, Conflict – A Literature Review, 2006)
“A process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something that the first party cares about.” (S. P. Robbins & T. A. Judge, Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 2008)
“As a set of perceptions, conflict is a belief or understanding that one’s own needs, interests, wants, or values are incompatible with someone else’s…Conflict also involves an emotional reaction to a situation or interaction that signals a disagreement of some kind…Conflict also consists of the actions that we take to express our feelings, articulate our perceptions, and get our needs met in a way that has the potential for interfering with someone else’s ability to get his or her needs met.” (B. Mayer, The Dynamics of Conflict, 2012)
“Conflict is the process by which people or groups perceive that others have taken some action that has a negative effect on their interest.” (D. J. Levi, Group Dynamics for Teams, 2013)
“Conflict refers to some form of friction, disagreement, or discord arising within a group when the beliefs or actions of one or more members of the group are either resisted by or unacceptable to one or more members of another group. Conflict can arise between members of the same group, known as intragroup conflict, or it can occur between members of two or more groups, and involve violence, interpersonal discord, and psychological tension, known as intergroup conflict. Conflict in groups often follows a specific course. Routine group interaction is first disrupted by an initial conflict , often caused by differences of opinion, disagreements between members, or scarcity of resources. At this point, the group is no longer united, and may split into coalitions. This period of conflict escalation in some cases gives way to a conflict resolution stage, after which the group can eventually return to routine group interaction once again.” (Harvard Program on Negotiation Glossary, “Conflict” 2013)

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