Name: Sunmibola Makinde

Conflict Resolution According to Thompson, “Effective listening and speaking enables us to accurately assess the central issues within our conflict and then to negotiate fairly, with win/win solution in mind”<59>. This means that, despite the fact that conflicts generally occur in our daily lives, we should be able to resolve them so we can function in our relationships and communication with others by listening and speaking well, so as to reach an agreement or conclusion to conflicting issues. When we have misunderstandings with others, we should always try to avoid conflict by the use of a specific language, it could be in form of body language or verbal language to disarm the situation from getting worse. We should also understand how to effectively use any chosen form of language. To resolve conflict, we have to withhold judgement about others so we can position ourselves to easily understand their desires and listen carefully because when we listen, it shows we have respect for their feelings and we are willing to compromise. However, we have to learn how to get our point across effectively without offending them or arousing more anger. Though, we are different people and come from different backgrounds but we have to relate with one another because we are involved in each other’s lives. Starting from playmates, to colleagues at school, to co-workers at work, etc. there is bound to be conflict which is why it is necessary for us to learn how to resolve our conflicts without hurting anyone’s feelings. The use of body language requires us to be calm and attentive to other peoples’ opinion and complaint while the use of verbal language requires us to use our words effectively and a positive tone. We should always take responsibility of our actions so we can see both the positive and negative contribution to our communication errors. “When we blame others for our response choices, we create listening barriers that prevent us from seeing clearly what our interactions are trying to show us about ourselves and our dyad partners” <61>. We should be able to compromise and reach a conclusion after discovering what both parties want. For example, if someone offends you by making a rude statement about you, to avoid conflict, your response should be calm and precise with a calm tone of language and good choice of words to express your bitterness about his or her remark. If you both compromise and agree on certain things, both of you would reach a consensus. One of the aspects of resolving conflicts can be found in adolescent adjustment. Urbinger indicated that the relationship between conflict and adjustment has been widely investigated and research revealed that there is a clear relationship between these two variables. Results of research concerning inter-parental conflict indicated a negative effect on the adjustment of children when the inter-parental conflict was present. “The limited empirical research investigating conflict resolution and its effect on adjustment appears to indicate that conflict resolution is associated in a decrease in negative reactions in children and a decrease in aggression and expressed anger