Hi. I'm Julie Tietz. And welcome to Conflict Resolution-- Putting the Pieces Together. Today, we're going to talk about the common features of conflict. So let's get started off with our key terms. First, we have power. And that is the ability to control an individual or group through influence, force, coercion, or manipulation to get them to do something they otherwise would not do.
Intrapersonal conflict-- a state of conflict between parts or aspects of a single individual. When we're talking about intrapersonal conflict, we are referring to the fact that conflict requires more than one party. And this is different from the concept of intrapersonal conflict that is discussed in psychology, which you may have come across in other areas of your study.
Next, we have latent conflicts. And that is a state in which parties have differences that bother one another but do not consider those differences significant enough to act on them.
So when we're talking about conflict and their common-- and its common features, it always involved a real or perceived incompatibility of a couple of different areas in which we're going to cover the first is goals. And an example could be maybe you have differing goals on what to do with your savings. And your partner has another goal maybe to put a down payment on the house. And you want to spend that savings on a trip.
Next is information. A good example could be opposing interpretations of scientific data maybe around in areas such as global warming.
Another area would be relationships. We all have relationships in our lives. And an example that I can think of is you're an older employee of a company. And all of a sudden, a new boss comes in. And you have a real or perceived incompatibility with some of the new policies that they're bringing forth.
It also could be with our needs. And these could be physical or emotional. And our beliefs-- an example is there could be some real or perceived incompatibility of different religion. And finally, there could be a real or perceived incompatibility of our actions. These could be some of the tasks that we do in our everyday life.
When we're talking about latent conflicts, remember that they remain hidden until one or another party takes action. And that could be directly or indirectly. And this indicates that there is a conflict present. A good example is that I like to leave my shoes by the door. But my boyfriend really likes them in the closet.
And I'm not really good at putting my shoes away. And so they pile up and pile up, pile up. And then all of a sudden, he's become so frustrated that the shoes are piled up by the door and not put away where he thinks they should be that an altercation ensues. And I didn't even know that that was an issue for him until he brought it up.
Another feature of conflict involves the use of some form of power to influence the other party to resolve the incompatibility in one or the other party's favor. And there are many different means of influencing this incompatibility. And that could be through social status, power, political, and even through money.
Now that we have covered the common features of conflict, let's go over the key points. Conflict requires more than one party. Conflict involves a real or perceived incompatibility between the parties. Conflict remains latent or hidden until activated by one of the parties to signal that there is a conflict. And conflict always involves the use of power. Thank you so much for taking the time out to view this tutorial. And I hope to catch you again next time.