كتاب الطالب Moral – Social – Culture اللغة الانجليزية الصف الحادي عشر الفصل الأول
The Interest-Based Relational Approach
Normally, the ideal conflict resolution style is the collaborative one, as this is the style of conflict resolution that is most likely to establish a lasting peace. However, this style can only be maintained if the participants of a conflict are committed to treating the other side with mutual understanding and respect
To encourage each participant to adopt the colla style, The Interest- Based Relational (IBR) Approach suggests focusing on the 'interests' or 'wants' that each side has, rather than on any negative perception of the people involved. This helps to preserve good relationships and encourage collaboration. A number of rules to follow when resolving a conflict are suggested by this approach, which include
Make sure that good relationships are the first priority Always treat the other person with resFR.ct and this from them too. Remain calm and courteous throughout any discussion. Always try and be
constructive
Keep people and problems separate Recognise that, in most conflicts, the other person is not trying to be diffcult just to be annoying. There are usually genuine differences of view that have caused the conflict. The focus of any discussions should be on the underlying problem, not on the people involved. By distinguishing the problem from the person involved, there is less chance of further harm being done to the relationship and the real underlying issue can addressed
Listen carefully to the interests of the other side You must try to ful ly understand why the is adopting their position and what their point of view really is. It usually helps to try and listen first to the other person, to make sure that you have them properly, beforeوpresenting your own point of view. (It is worth recalling the work done on listening in unit 3 in Grade 10) of — UrUt•d Arab
A mediator works individuals or groups to help in the resolution of disputes
Barriers to Resolving Conflicts
People are prone to thinking and feeling in ways that can act as barriers or obstacles to the resolution of conflicts or can cause conflicts to escalate These are both problems of human psychology and weaknesses in critical thinking skills. Being aware of these tendencies and trying to avoid them is therefore very important in coming to peaceful resolutions of conflict. We will explore three of the key common barriers and suggest techniques for overcoming them
Confirmation Bias This is the tendency to look for evidence that favours beliefs that you already hold, rather than look for evidence that goes against them. Also, when presented with evidence that could be interpreted in different ways, it is the tendency to interpret evidence in a way that favours pre-existing beliefs
This tendency can be very damaging for conflict resolution as it encourages each side of the conflict to become more in their views. They become less likely to agree on what the objective facts are and become more certain that they are right and that the opFY)sing side is wrong. This strongly works against attempts at collaboration
To overcome this, it is important to recognise that all human are prone to this tendency. This includes yourself, not just the on the other side of the conflict
Firstly, actively try and find evidence that might go against your own view, rather than just collect evidence in favour of your view
Then, when considering evidence in favour of your own side, remind yourself that you may over-exaggerating the degree to which the evidence supports ymr side. Imagine that the opposing side was offering exactly the same evidence for their gxysition. Would you accept their argument with the same degree of conviction
Finally, prepared to publicly admit when you are mistaken and see this not as a weakness but as a sign of strength, as it demonstrates that you are committed to the truth
Research Task
One of the for the Internet was that it would enable to overcome confirmation bias by having access to much more informatim However, some argue that the opposite has
This is because we now have access to vast networks of like-minded people online and so can all of our online time with who share our views. Additionally, search engines use computer algorithms to return searches based on information the user, such as and previous searches. Examples of this include personalised
search results and Facetxx)k's news-stream. This means that it is easy to end up in intellectual isolation with little exposure to different views, creating a skewed sense of how much the evidence supports your own views
Research this phenomenon further and what actions can taken to overcome the problem. As part of this research you could carry out an with friends, by entering the same search term into a search engine and comparing your results. (In one famous experiment of this the search term 'Egypt' was used.)
Comparing search results. Are there any differences between the results given by a search engine tptween you and your friends if you each type in the same search request? If so. why do you think this is the case
The Attribution Error When we behave in a way that is not appropriate, we tend to explain this as being due to outside circumstances, so it is not our fault. However, when others behave inappropriately, we tend to interpret this as being caused by the bad character or bad motivation of the other so it is their fault. We 'attribute' the bad behaviour to the other character or motivation. For example, if someone is walking in a hurry and pushes past you in the shopping mall, you may tempted to think of them as a selfish person who is rude. However, if you did the same thing, you may be tempted to explain it in a different way because you have a legitimate reason to be in a hurry
This tendency to misinterpret the motivations of the people you are in conflict with, makes the conflict much harder to resolve. Relationships can quickly break down with an increasing sense of mistrust both sides. People can then quickly shift from a style to a more style, which can be counter-productive
One of the best ways to overcome this barrier is to imagine that you were in exactly the same position as the other person in the conflict. How would you Also, before rushing to conclude that the other person has bad motives, try and find external factors that might explain why they are behaving like that. Most importantly, go to great lengths to listen to them for their explanation as to why they are behaving in the way that they are (Again, recall the work you did in unit 3 of Grade 10 on listening skills to
help you