1. List and briefly explain levels of conflict.

There are different levels at which conflict takes place. Some are easier to manage
than others. The levels of conflict can be first understood as occurring at four
different levels. They are conflict at the intrapersonal level, interpersonal level,
intragroup level and intergroup level.

Intrapersonal level
The first level occurs within the individual. Internal conflict results from ideas,
attitudes, emotions, values, or personality drives that are in conflict with each other.
For example, sometimes you are caught in between wanting to spend time with your
friends and staying in and studying for your classes. There is a relationship between
intrapersonal conflict and interpersonal conflict. It is believed that the more we are
internally in conflict, the more chances of us being .involved in conflicts with
others.

Another example is the dilemma of wanting to please others and the reluctance to do
certain tasks that others want us to do. For instance, you have been asked a favour to
mail a letter for a colleague. In addition, the colleague asks you to buy the stamps to
go on the letter. So, that makes you want to say no, but whether you do so depends
on the closeness of your relationship with that person.

Interpersonal conflict

This level occurs between two individuals. It can occur between friends, family
members, co-workers, lovers, or total strangers (e.g. in cases of "road rage"). In this
type of conflict, the individuals usually communicate directly with each other. Most
conflict discussions and resolutions refer to this type of conflict because it is the
basic unit of interpersonal communication and interpersonal relations.

Intragroup conflict
Conflict can also occur within small groups. This could involve family members
who are not on good terms with each other, team members, committee members, or
in any small groups of individuals.

Intergroup conflict
This level of conflict occurs between groups. Groups involved could be families
who are not on good terms, workers and management, committees, street gangs,
certain groups and government, or any small groups of individuals. Often,
representatives are elected to represent the groups.
Conflict can occur at any of the above levels and the levels can occur at the same
time.

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Another way of looking at conflict is to categorise them into types or kinds.

Verderber and Verderber (1986, pp.178-179) group conflict into four kinds:
pseudoconflict, content conflict, value conflict, and ego conflict.

Pseudoconflict
This is false conflict that seems to be real. This happens when people believe that
two goals cannot be fulfilled at the same time. For example, if you are studying for a
test tomorrow, and your boss wants you to do a report, you may think of these two
actions as in conflict. You tend to put the actions in an either-or framework, i.e.
either you study for the test or you do the report. This becomes a real conflict if you
think it is really impossible to do both within the time you have. However, it may in
fact be possible to do both.

Content conflict
A conflict that has to do with the accuracy of content is called content conflict. The
conflict may be about a fact. For example, you may be in conflict with your
colleague on whether the final exam questions will be easy or difficult. The conflict
can occur because of the interpretation of a fact or on an inference based on a fact or
a series of facts. You may disagree with a friend as to whether the war in Iraq will
trigger another round of inflation. The rise in oil prices may be a fact, what will

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result from that rise is a matter of opinion, based on interpretation of the fact or on
inference of the fact. The conflict may be over a definition. Or sometimes you agree
on a problem, but disagree on how to solve the problem.

Value conflict
Conflicts become more difficult to resolve when they involve the influence of value
systems on the issues of conflict. Values are the "cluster of attitudes or beliefs a
person holds that serve as a guideline for measuring the worth of various aspects of
life" (Verderber&Verderber, 1986, p.178). Therefore, value conflicts are differences
in views of life as a whole (or an aspect of life) that are brought into an issue. You
may argue with a colleague whether experience is more important than salary in
beginning employment which may result in a clash of values. Values are societal and
personal. For example, most people in the United States believe the individual is
more important than the state. Other societies have different values about different
things. Some people value group needs over that of the individual. Values that
people have of certain things are difficult to influence or change. Conflicts over
values are quite difficult to resolve.

Ego conflict

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Two people may view "winning" or "losing" the conflict as a measure of their
expertise, personal worth, or image. In this situation, the content of conflict takes
second place to the people involved. Managing this kind of conflict is the most
difficult. Ego conflicts result from using personal or judgmental statements in
discussing the issue. For example, a disagreement over the rise and fall of the stock
market can result in an ego conflict when the communicators see the issue as
determining who the economics expert is. The winner is the expert in economics and
the loser is the one who is ignorant about these matters.

Ego conflicts occur when the issue is related to who you are, what you are, how
competent you are, whom you have power over, and how much you know. The more
you think you know about an issue, the more likely you are to be involved in an ego
conflict. Once the ego is involved, the ability to cope rationally is often difficult.
Emotions can then be involved and unintended words will be used and the conflict
is blown out of proportion.

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