functional conflict
a healthy, constructive disagreement between two or more people
dysfunctional conflict
an unhealthy, destructive disagreement between two or more people
jurisdictional ambiguity
the presence of unclear lines of responsibility within an organization
interorganizational conflict
conflict that occurs between two or more organizations
intergroup conflict
conflict that occurs between groups or teams in an organization
intragroup conflict
conflict that occurs within a group or team
intrapersonal conflict
conflict that occurs within an individual
interrole conflict
a person's experience of conflict among the multiple roles in his or her life
intrarole conflict
conflict that occurs within a single role, such as when a person receives conflicting messages from role senders about how to perform a certain role
person-role conflict
conflict that occurs when an individual in a particular role is expected to perform behaviors that clash with his or her personal values
interpersonal conflict
conflict that occurs between two or more individuals
fixation
an aggressive mechanism in which an individual keeps up a dysfunctional behavior that obviously will not solve the conflict
displacement
an aggressive mechanism in which an individual directs his or her anger toward someone who is not the source of the conflict
negativism
an aggressive mechanism in which a person responds with pessimism to any attempt at solving a problem
compensation
a compromise mechanism in which an individual attempts to make up for a negative situation by devoting himself or herself to another pursuit with increased vigor
identification
a compromise mechanism whereby an individual patterns his or her behavior after another's
rationalization
a compromise mechanism characterized by trying to justify one's behavior by constructing bogus reasons for it
flight/withdrawal
a withdrawal mechanism that entails physically escaping (flight) or psychologically escaping (withdrawal) a conflict
conversion
a withdrawal mechanism in which emotional conflicts are expressed in physical symptoms
fantasy
a withdrawal mechanism that provides an escape from a conflict through daydreaming
nonaction
doing nothing in hopes that a conflict will disappear
secrecy
attempting to hide a conflict or an issue that has the potential to create conflict
administrative orbiting
delaying action on a conflict by buying time
due process nonaction
a procedure set up to address conflicts that is so costly, time consuming, or personally risky that no one will use it
character assassination
an attempt to label or discredit an opponent
superordinate goal
an organizational goal that is more important to both parties in a conflict than their individual or group goals
distributive bargaining
a negotiation approach in which the goals of the parties are in conflict, and each party seeks to maximize its resources
integrative negotiation
a negotiation approach in which the parties' goals are not seen as mutually exclusive, but the focus is on both sides achieving their objectives