Chapter 3 Interests and Goals

Goals and conflict At some level, all conflicts involve people who think (perceive) that their goals are incompatible with another person’s Usually, people believe that one person is blocking another from achieving a goal Self Esteem underlies many conflicts

Factors underlying goals Core concerns Values and attitudes Preferences Personal approaches

Core personal issues These are at the heart of conflict, but are almost never brought up by the parties Need for self esteem Violation of cultural rules Gender identity and expectations Religion Emotional concerns

Attitudes, Attributions, Values People think their own goals are right because they are thinking of them in terms of their own attitudes and values Exercise – identify and discuss a conflict and then list the attitudes, attributions, and values for both parties

Preferences, Orientations, Approaches These vary by personality types, for example, the Myers-Briggs types: Extrovert and Introvert Sensing vs. Perceiving Thinking and Feeling Judging and Perceiving

Types of Goals also vary Content Goals Wht do we want? Relational Goals What are we to each other? How much interdependence do we want? Identity or face-saving Goals Who am I in this interaction? Am I being respected? Process Goals What communication processes/approaches will be used?

Overlapping nature of goals Most often, there are multiple goals underlying a conflict Let’s think of examples and diagram the overlap!

An interesting and important fact about goals They often emerge and transform themselves during an interaction Prospective Goals – intentions people hold before they engage in conflict Transactive Goals – goals discovered during the conflict itself Retrospective Goals – justifications for decisions/actions and formation of new goals

Improving Conflict Goals Clear goals are essential to effective conflict management Advantages of clear goals: Solutions won’t go unrecognized Clear goals are easier to share Clear goals can be altered more easily than vague ones Clear goals are reached far more often

Collaborative Goals Guidelines for effective collaborative goals: They should address short-medium-long range They specify the desired behaviors They orient towards the present and future (not the past They recognize interdependence They recognize that conflict resolution is an ongoing process