The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence And Conflict Management Style

Conflict is inevitable in any personal relationship or among members of any group. While we encounter many types of conflict in our lifetime, we often look for ways to avoid conflict. So, why do we run away from dealing with our conflict? It is often because many of us fear the conflict will escalate into a situation we will not be able to sustain. “As conflicts escalate, they go through certain incremental transformations. Although these transformations occur separately on each side, they affect the conflict as a whole because they are usually mirrored by the other side. As a result of these transformations, the conflict is intensified in ways that are sometimes exceedingly difficult to undo” (Pruitt, and Kim 89). We

A special research field in the mediation literature intends to shed light on the question, how influential the impact of mediator’s characteristics and motivations on the mediation process is. Concerning the state of research, the studies of this debate show a divergent picture. There are scientists who have queried the significance of mediator’s impartiality (Bercovitch/Houston 1996; Kydd 2003, Touval 1982; Zartmann/Touval 1996). Scholars like Saadia Touval have underpinned that mediators are often biased and can perform their tasks just as well if not better as impartial mediators. Additionally, Touval and Zartmann stated in their study that mediation is an exercise in power politics: “leverage is the ticket to mediation” (Touval/Zartmann 1989: 129). In 2003, Kydd finds that mediators use their leverage to one of the two conflicting parties and therefore constraint concessions. Thus, the mediator must be biased to be effective. This means that merely a mediator who is biased towards one side can credibility tell them that the opponent will not make peace without the concession. Carnevale and Arad (1996) also remarked the importance of bias. Nevertheless, they suggest that impartiality should not be underestimated and therefore be taken in to consideration.

Two psychologists, John Mayer and Peter Salovey, first introduced the concept of “emotional intelligence”, or EI, in a journal article in 1990 (Goleman, 2005). It was then popularized in 1995, with the book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman. Goleman posited that EI is as important, if not more important, than IQ in terms of success in academics, business, and interpersonal relationships (2005).

Fells (2016, p. 211) wrote “ just as a doctor works to bring a person back to health, so too a mediator works to bring a deadlocked negotiation back to a situation where the parties can reach agreement”. This essay discusses this statement with reference to contemporary research on dispute resolution. In order to comprehend how this is achieved, we must consider the essence of mediation, the different types of mediation and what mediators do. Negotiation and mediation are process used to resolve opposing preferences between parties. Negotiation is defined in Fells (2016, p. 3) as “a process by which two parties with differences that they need to resolve try to reach agreement through

Communication in conflict can be both constructive and destructive. Those who communicate constructively, or productively, emphasize both themselves and

Keeping this point in mind, it is highly recommendable that one must adopt positive and constructive attitude towards conflict and must see them as challenges for them that will test their might and knowledge

There are three major conflict interventions: mediation, arbitration, and negotiation. Each of these interventions have pros and cons. Mediation is the one intervention that incorporates creativity in the resolution process so it benefits all disputants involved. Mediation also promotes collaboration and cooperation more so than arbitration and negotiation do. It is also a more cost efficient for the disputants and is more likely to resolve conflicts quicker. Mediators help defuse anger, improve communication, and specifically work on trust building. Mediation ensures that the matter can be handled privately without risk of public reprimand. On the other hand, mediation does not always result in a settlement like arbitration does. Mediation

Formally, Emotional Intelligence, commonly abbreviated as EI is defined as the capacity to reason of and about emotion so as to enhance reasoning or rather thinking. It is also defined as the capability of an individual to recognize and understand the meaning of emotions, their relations and use this information to reason critically and solve problems based on these emotions (Dann 78). The first Emotional Intelligence theory was initially developed by early psychologists back in the 1970s and 80s. This study was advanced and has been advancing over the past years. It has become very important in organizational development and developing people in the process. This is because the Emotional Intelligence or rather Emotional Quotient

Our conflict begins when

Although sometimes useful to break from the conflict to cool off, it tends to be destructive. As a forceful way to avoid conflict, it is active

Conflict is part of human existence. The world is filled with conflicts in all realms of life. Evidence of unresolved conflicts in greater scale are the chaos around the world that we hear and see from the daily world news. Everyday we experience some sort of conflict that are either insignificant or relatively important whether we are at home, at school, at a coffee shop, or at work.

Barel (2017) highlighted the significant effects of having a high emotional intelligence to effective management. As defined, Barel (2017) stated that emotional intelligence encompasses the person’s strength in acknowledging, understanding, and controlling himself to be able to communicate better, assess the situation objectively, and affect a positive change to people. Therefore, these components of emotional intelligence, such as self-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation, and social skills are important in handling conflict and aiming for a peaceful relationship at the workplace. To illustrate where emotional intelligence can be applied, discussions about a witnessed confrontation, personal experience, and workplace

The three factors selected as identifiers (dominance, avoidance, and compromise) were chosen because they make up the majority of individual conflict styles and they categorically encompass a number of goal-driven behaviors found in a conflict at varying degrees. However, it’s important to note that all three of these behaviors can have both positive and negative consequences in the context of the conflict in the same way that “both avoidance and engagement are workable options in different circumstances” (Hocker & Wilmot, 2014, p. 150).

I enjoyed reading the article by Morrison on the correlation between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and conflict. Reading about the different conflict-handling styles was insightful and I could definitely identify each person's style in my work environment. Conflict resolution is a skill that successful nursing administrators must possess. According to Myatt ( 2012), "Leadership is a full-contact sport, and if you cannot or will not address conflict in a healthy, productive fashion, you should not be in a leadership role" ( para 1). Lack of communication and allowing emotions to set the tone are two key elements of conflict in the work place ( Myatt, 2012); therefore, excellent communication skills and healthy interpersonal relationships are

High emotional intelligence can improve a person’s life economically, socially, scientifically, and history proves so.