Hi, I'm Julie Tietz. And welcome to Conflict Resolution-- putting the pieces together. Today, we're going to cover the core concern of autonomy. So why don't we get started off with defining some of our key terms?
Core concern-- per the Harvard Negotiation project is one of five emotional or relational needs all humans feel within relationships or in negotiation. And the Harvard Negotiation project is based out of Harvard University. And it works on real conflicts to better understand and implement conflict resolution and negotiation practices.
So the things that we're learning today about the core concern of autonomy is coming from real world experiences. Autonomy-- a perception that one is empowered to make one's own choices and act freely based on those choices.
So when we're talking about the core concerns in relation to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, we are looking specifically at the love and belonging and esteem categories. And in autonomy, it falls specifically in the esteem level on the Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
So in order for our need of autonomy to be satisfied, we must have agency and influence in certain situations. And we must be able to feel that any decisions that are made are not being imposed on us. We like to be in control over certain aspects of the situation and to know that any actions or decisions are not being forced on us and that we have autonomy to make our own decisions.
So here's a question. Where do you need autonomy in your life? For me, I need them at home. I need to be able to have influence or make my own decisions about what kind of dinner or food I'm going to eat, where I'm going to have my bedroom, how I'm going to decorate, who I'm going to let to come over, those types of things.
Also, I like to have autonomy in my job. I like to have influence in certain aspects of a project, or I like to be able to have the authority or the ability to make decisions and not always have to ask somebody higher above me.
I also like to have it in my relationship. I like to have my own say on how I want my certain relationships to be, whether that's with a significant other or a friend or family member. I like to be able to make my own decisions here and not have other people tell me how my relationship is supposed to look like.
When there is a lack or a perceived lack of autonomy in a certain relationship or a situation, this can lead to a conflict. So let's go back to my examples of where I need autonomy and see how this can relate to conflict. Maybe I live in a town home with an association. And they are telling me how I'm supposed to have my yard look. And I don't like that particular flower. And so that could lead to conflict.
On the job, I may not like what the direction the company is going into. But I may be willing to go along with that because oftentimes the level of autonomy that we need or that we are willing to give ourselves depends upon the nature of a relationship.
And so if I'm in a relationship with my company where I'm in the understanding that I'm not going to be able always to have my own decisions, I might be a little bit more OK with that. And that might not cause a conflict. Or I might be willing to look aside from that.
Also, conflict could arise when I'm not feeling like I'm having any say over how my relationships are going, whether that's with a friend, I'm not always-- I'm always having to go along with what they want to do or go where they want to go or any other number of things within the relationship. And this can cause conflict because I'm feeling like I'm not having any say in the situation or the decisions.
Moving on to autonomy and its relationship to conflict resolution, it's important to know that autonomy must be present in a conflict resolution process. And this is to build collective decisions, to make the parties feel like they are having agency and making their own decisions and not having others impose them on them. And this builds constructive relationships within the conflict resolution process.
So in a conflict resolution process, the autonomy of the parties might look like them making their decisions about how the process is going to look like, who's going to be involved, what they're going to discuss. And also, this could lead to formulating their own agreements so they feel like they own the process and have made a significant impact in the decisions and the situation.
So now we've covered the core concern of autonomy, let's go over our key points. Autonomy is located in the esteem level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. And when we are having the need of autonomy satisfied, we are having control over situations and influence on decisions that are being made. And the lack of autonomy can create conflict. When we are feeling like we are not having this need met, a conflict can arise.
And when we are in a conflict resolution process, autonomy is necessary in order to build constructive relations and to feel like we are making decisions within the process. Thank you for taking the time out to view this tutorial. And I hope to catch you again next time.