Hi, I'm Julie Tietz, and welcome to conflict resolution-- putting the pieces together. And today, we're going to look at the question of, is conflict good or bad?
Let's get started with our key terms. The first is good conflict-- a perception that conflict is an experience that provides opportunities for growth or positive change. And then our other key term is bad conflict-- a perception that conflict is primarily a negative or harmful experience.
So is conflict good or bad? Well, that's a big question, but conflict is neutral. It's in itself neutral because it is a situation or a relationship, but parties may perceive conflict to be good or bad.
Let's look at bad conflict. Bad conflict can be perceived as bad in physical and tangible ways because people may view the conflict as losing something or losing some valuable resources. They also may see conflict as bad or perceive conflict as bad in emotional ways because it may make them feel discomfort or fear, and that is considered to be bad.
Also, it is considered bad or perceived bad in identity-based ways. One, it threatens our sense of self and who we are as a person.
Just as conflict is perceived as bad, it also is perceived as good. Just as we saw in the perception of bad conflict, also in good conflict, it is perceived good in physical and tangible ways because they're gaining resources versus it being perceived as bad in that it's losing those resources.
Conflict is also perceived as good because it provides opportunities for ourselves and our relationships to grow. Also, it is viewed as good because it can be a source of change or we can learn to do things differently.
So let's review the key points of, is conflict good or bad? Conflict is neutral. And it is only perceived to be good and bad by the parties. Also, remember that an important part of conflict resolution processes is helping parties to see that conflict is neutral. In doing so, it will help at focusing on the task of resolving the conflict.
Thank you so much for taking your time out to watch this tutorial. And I hope to catch you, again, next time.