Hi, I'm Julie Tietz, and welcome to conflict resolution, putting the pieces together. Today, we're going to cover realistic conflict theory. Why don't we get started off with our key terms? Realistic conflict theory, a theory of conflict that explains conflict as a result of competing goals and competition for limited resources. A limited resource, a physical or other resource existing in limited quantities that must be divided between users. Zero-sum, an assumption that for one party to gain, the other must lose, yielding a net gain of zero.
Superordinate goal, a mutual goal seen by two parties as more important to achieve jointly the meeting either of their individual goals. In realistic conflict theory, we are talking about one of the many theories out there about the causes and manifestations of conflict. So why does conflict start, what makes it start, and how does it grow? And it states that or explains how inter-group hostility can arise as a result of conflicting goals and competition over limited resources.
In realistic conflict theory, it proposes that groups may be in competition for real or perceived scarcity of resources. And examples of this could be money, political power, military protection, or even social status. So it's a competition over real or perceived scarcity of resources. So it could be an actual real scarcity or we can think that things are going to be scarce. These resources may not be available to us in the future. And this causes resentment because the competition is a zero-sum fate. So if I think you're going to get the resource, that means I'm going to be left out. And I don't want to be left out, so we're competing over who gets the resources. And there's a clear winner and a clear loser in this scenario.
And the length and severity depends upon the perceived value, or even shortage, of this resource. However, positive relations can be restored through superordinate goals. And this is when two or more people or groups are involved to achieve a specific goal. And everyone must contribute. Now when we look at subordinate goals, conflict resolution processes are subordinate goals because we are working towards a specific goal in these processes. Everyone involved must contribute to achieve the goal. And typically that is the resolution in the conflict resolution processes.
Now let's use an example of, or go through an example with the realistic conflict theory. Let's say your company is going to be downsizing on the jobs. And so now the resource scarcity is a job. And so we are competing with our co-workers to obtain this resource, whether that's through working extra hours, taking on extra tasks, whatever we need to do to maintain or obtain that resource of the job. And there's going to be a clear winner and loser here. The winner gets the job, the loser is cut.
However, let's interject a superordinate goal to the scenario and say that no one loses a job, that's the goal here. And so the bosses have come together to try and achieve this goal. And so they may require a change in the benefits package, maybe everyone has to take a pay cut, or there is going to be some job sharing. But any of these scenarios, the goal is to maintain the job. And we all must contribute in one way or another to obtain this goal.
So now we've covered realistic conflict theory, let's go over our key points. Hostility arises from competition over scarce resources. And this makes a zero-sum fate, where there's only one winner and one loser. And the length and intensity of this conflict depends upon the value or perceived value, or even shortage of the resource. And superordinate goals can restore positive relationships within this scenario. And conflict resolution processes are superordinate goals because we are having the individuals involved in the conflict trying to work together to contribute to achieving a specific goal. Thank you for taking the time out to view this tutorial. And I hope to catch you again next time.