Conflict diversion
The theory of conflict redirection (Engl. Conflict detouring ) tries to interpersonal conflict resolution to explain as well as its causes. The term was coined in 1968 at the Institute for Sociology at the University of Karlsruhe ( Hanns Peter Euler and Hans Linde ). The conflict diversion theory is essentially based on the sociological conflict theory and the theory of cognitive dissonance .
The conflict diversion theory states that people do not always act directly against the actual cause of the conflict or its cause. Under certain conditions, the conflict can be shifted. The conflict is then directed against other content or persons who have nothing to do with the original cause of the conflict.
In essence, the problem is that real conflict fronts are not recognized or not permitted and are successfully redefined, both in political science ( cf. proxy war , parallel society ) and in sociology (cf. Lewis A. Coser's scapegoat theorem) been. Euler's originality lies in his industrial- sociological bridging with the approaches of Leon Festinger .
theory
The theory of conflict diversion distinguishes between the cause of the conflict and the actual outcome of the conflict. There may be shifts between the event and the event . The focus of the considerations is which person (addressee) confronts the individual with which content in the conflict resolution . Is the individual's conflict resolution directed against the original cause of the conflict (content)? Does the individual confront the person (addressee) who is responsible for the cause of the conflict? The combination of these two differentiation criteria - addressee and content - results in four typical forms of conflict:
- same person (addressee) and same content: direct conflict resolution
- same person (addressee) and different content: Conflict diversion through content shifting
- Different people (addressees) and the same content: Conflict diversion by shifting addressees
- Different people (addressees) and different content: Conflict diversion by shifting content and addressee
The individual courses of conflict are discussed below.
Direct conflict resolution
The first group of conflicts are direct conflicts. There is neither a shift in the content of the conflict nor a shift in the person confronted. The individuals act in direct conflict resolution - in accordance with their attitudes - against the content and people. This form of conflict resolution corresponds to the cases that Coser counts as one of the “ realistic conflicts ” .
Conflict diversion through content relocation
Conflict diversion through content shifting occurs when the individual confronts the same person in the negative attitudes and in the conflict action, but where the cause for interaction is different from the content of the negative attitudes.
Conflict diversion by shifting addressees
Conflict diversion through addressee displacement embodies a labor dispute phenomenon where the cause of the dispute coincides with the negative attitude, but where at the same time a shift - in terms of the dimension of the attitude and the interaction - occurs in the confronted person.
In social psychology , such diversion of conflict is known as " object shift ". However, as not only people but also factual content fall under the term “ object ”, the term “ addressee ” is introduced. Within the social role relationships, the “addressee” is the person who is affected in the attitudes and interactions.
This form of conflict diversion is not to be equated with the cases that Coser defines as “ unrealistic conflicts ” . The selection of the “ substitute objects ” - as Coser calls this shift - results from indefinite - at least not socially determined - influencing variables, whereas the approach of conflict diversion traces the causes of the conflict phenomena back to the conditionality of social system structures.
Conflict diversion by shifting content and addressee
The fourth form of the conflict course describes diverted conflicts with content shifting as well as addressee shifting; d. H. the work dispute concerns other factual events and is directed against a person (addressee) other than the facts and addressees who are confronted in the attitudes of the individual. This form of conflict resolution is called conflict diversion by shifting content and addressee.
Examples of different conflict courses
Hanns Peter Euler uses an example to show how a direct conflict can develop into a diverted conflict. The example actually happened that way, only the names were made up.
In a production department of an industrial company , the salary consists of a fixed hourly rate and a variable performance bonus . The responsible superior - the group master - decides on the amount of the bonus based on the subjectively assessed performance (e.g. reliability, punctuality, sense of responsibility) of each worker. The department head expects the group master not to set the performance bonuses too high, whereas the individual subordinates expect the highest possible bonuses. These contradicting relationships create a structural tension point which does not automatically lead to a social labor conflict as long as the foreman and the production worker can cope with their roles (e.g. family burdens, high demands at the workplace, burdens from club activities).
Direct conflict resolution
A direct conflict occurred when a welder (at Euler "Schmidt") felt disadvantaged by the performance appraisal of the master (called "Wagner") compared to his colleagues, which led to a dispute between the production worker and his group master about the premium measurement . Due to his perception towards his superior Wagner about the reason for the assessment of the performance bonus, Schmidt had developed a negative attitude; and Schmidt, consistent with his negative attitudes, expressed his displeasure with the same person and the same content.
Conflict diversion through content relocation
After a while, a conflict diversion can be detected in our example. The welder Schmidt felt disadvantaged by his master Wagner because of his performance bonus. Therefore, Schmidt gets into an argument with his foreman at a later point in time; Schmidt refuses him a favor, such as retrofitting an additional device - a task that would otherwise not be part of his area of responsibility.
The person confronted in the conflict interaction was the same person as in the attitudes of the production worker; But the negative attitude towards the original reason, namely the assessment of the allowance, led to a shift in action in a different role content (relationship) between the same people. The other role content is characterized by structural contrasts. This tension focus on the performance assessment was not necessarily apparent before. The production worker, who is already working to full capacity, expects his supervisor not to be overloaded with additional work. At the same time, the group master tries to keep the workload of his subordinates high on the basis of his own justification and role correspondence with the department head.
Conflict diversion by shifting addressees
After some time, in the event of a dispute, characteristics of a conflict diversion through a shift of addressees emerged. Due to the fear of possible sanctions on the part of the foreman Wagner, Schmidt did not want to start another dispute with his superior about the remuneration . Instead, Schmidt starts a dispute with his colleague C about the allegedly unjust performance bonus, who, in Schmidt's opinion, gets too high a percentage.
This example shows that the work disputes revolved around the same structural content as Schmidt's attitudes, but there was a shift between the opponent of the attitudes and the conflict partner. It was a so-called addressee shift.
Conflict diversion by shifting content and addressee
In our case, a conflict diversion by shifting the content and addressee arises later: The welder Schmidt, who feels disadvantaged with regard to his performance bonus, does not start a dispute with his colleague about the wage bonus; instead he comes into the compound with C when he refuses to help him, although Schmidt was not necessarily angry with his colleague for a previous occasion. It is obvious that there has been a shift in the content of the controversy (performance bonus) and the addressee confronted (group master Wagner).
causes
The form of direct conflict resolution occurs v. a. at such sources of tension where the actor can count on the chances of being able to directly influence, change and regulate personal role relationships and unsuitable situation conditions; d. H. with equality of rank of the interaction partner, high chances of interaction and relative ability to influence the content of the conflict. Conflict diversions, on the other hand, can be localized where these requirements are not met.
So people generally tend to resolve conflicts directly in order to reduce cognitive dissonance . Cognitive dissonance is usually triggered by dissatisfaction. If people learn, based on their experience or socialization , that a direct conflict resolution has little chance of success, they tend to divert the conflict. Often regulations (e.g. practical constraints or sanction options on the part of the addressee in the attitudes ) do not allow the dissonance to be eliminated through direct conflict resolution. Then the actors switch to other options for dissonz reduction that are within their available scope of action. The most likely conflict addressees are people from whom no sanctions are to be expected and with whom there is a high chance of interaction. From the point of view of the social agent, the shift in content or addressee must have a greater potential for reducing dissonant relationship elements than direct conflict resolution so that the conflict can be redirected. Un satisfactions in other areas of life the actor also affect conflict resolution resources is increasingly tending to conflict redirection.
Areas of application
Knowledge of conflict diversion is used in a wide variety of areas, such as in the ergonomic design of workplaces, in mediation , in criminology or in family therapy . Mobbing research also makes reference to conflict diversion in the declaration. Accordingly, bullying is always a conflict diversion through content shifting.
literature
- Hanns Peter Euler: Labor conflict and performance restriction in industrial operations. (= Studies in Social Science. 6). Bertelsmann Universitätsverlag, Düsseldorf 1973, ISBN 3-571-9146-4 .
- Hanns Peter Euler: The conflict potential of industrial work structures - analysis of the technical and social causes. (= Studies in Social Science. 12). Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1977, ISBN 3-531-11407-7 .