Conflict Styles and Conflict Transformation: Possibilities for New Connections
17 Pages Posted: 13 Jul 2006
Date Written: July 2006
Abstract
Opportunities to integrate conflict management models that have been heretofore viewed as parallel or even incompatible should be explored, as they contribute to the ongoing scholarly goal of parsimony while simultaneously broadening our thinking about organizational conflict. Two such elements that have not been explicitly considered within the context of each other are the construct of conflict styles (e.g., Rahim, 1985, 1986; Thomas and Kilmann, 1974, 1977) and the theory and practice of transformative mediation (Bush and Folger, 1994, 2005). Yet, when the relationship between self and other - the central variables within the conflict styles construct (Rahim and Bonoma, 1979) - are conceptualized, the continuum of conflict styles can be seen as a still shot of Bush and Folger's dynamic model of conflict transformation. This paper reviews the theoretical underpinnings of the predominant conflict styles models and shows how a re-examination of the notion of self and other problematizes our usual assumptions about conflict styles. We then look at the ways in which connecting the traditional conflict literature with the more contemporary work of Bush and Folger creates a new framework for thinking abut conflict styles and how they are used to balance the dialectical tension between autonomy and connection.
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