Week 2
Cause of Conflict and Types of Conflict

Week 2: Causes of Conflict and Types of Conflict
Week overview
Well renowned mediator Chris Moore, believes that behind each cause of conflict, there is a
solution. Unfortunately, identifying the cause of conflict is not as easy as we think, because
there are many different causes to conflict and not all of them will be apparent when we first
start mediating disputes. In this week, we will learn about these different causes and how
each cause has their own type of solution.
Classifying the conflict based on where the conflict occurs can also help us understand how
we need to conduct mediation sessions and also what approaches to use. For example, a
community conflict will require more political, cultural considerations and also more group
input, whereas a family mediation may require a more individualised approach, one that
explores the emotional aspect of the conflict. In this week, we will look at the two ways in
which conflict is categorised and how it determines the way conflicts can be resolved.
Learning outcomes
At the successful completion of this section, you will be able to:
 differentiate between different types of conflict
 describe the different strategies that can be used in different types of conflict
 explain why conflict is categorised into types.
 identify and categorise the causes of conflict
 explain the manifestations of conflict
 explain the undisclosed and unconscious contributing factors to conflict
 identify the indicators of unmanifest conflict.
Causes of conflict
Conflicts may appear to arise from any number of situations but the underlying reason can
usually be traced to a few key causes. Perhaps one of the most common causes found in the
workplace and families is poor communication. Even if not the root cause, poor
communication is often one of the biggest factors in escalating conflict. The cause of conflict

can be categorised into groups, which aids the mediator in choosing how to approach the
mediation process. However, upon closer examination, we can find that there are many other
reasons why conflict happens.
Reading 2.1
Please read the following article on the Wheel of Conflict:
Thompson, J. (2012) The Wheel of Conflict. Beyond Words: The science and fun of
nonverbal communication. Available: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beyondwords/201204/the-wheel-conflict (Accessed on December 19, 2014).
Mayer’s Wheel of Conflict
Mayer’s (2000) Wheel of Conflict categorises the causes of conflict according to the unmet
needs of the parties as follows:
 communication – misperception
 emotions
 values – core beliefs
 structural conflicts – scarce resources including time constraints, decision-making
processes, political aspects etc.
 history – conflict occurs in the context of the past
Common causes of conflict in the workplace (Whetton and Cameron 2007) can be attributed
to the following:
 personal differences – perceptions and expectation
 informational deficiencies – misinformation and misrepresentation
 role incompatibility –goals and responsibilities
 environmental stress – resource scarcity and uncertainty
Mayer’s Wheel can be overlayed on the Whetton and Cameron list such that personal
differences are influenced by communication, emotion and values; informational differences
can occur as a result of both communication and structural conflicts; role incompatibility is

affected by structural conflicts plus communication and emotions, and environmental stress
by structural conflicts and communication.
Miscommunication is common to many conflict situations as we all filter what we hear
according to our own experiences. As a simple example, someone takes a piece of paper and
writes their name on it, and says to someone else, “Do exactly what I did”. Does the
instruction mean write the first person’s name on the paper or should they be writing their
own name?
We are often imprecise with communication. A husband tells his wife he will be “a little bit
late”. What does that exactly mean? She may interpret that as half an hour, he may mean 3
hours. When he does not turn up as expected, her emotions will come into play. She may feel
fear that something has happened to him or anger that he was not more explicit as she has
prepared a meal, which will now be ruined. He arrives home and she immediately becomes
angry with him; he is confused as he has no idea of the emotions she has been feeling whilst
he was doing exactly what he thought he had told her. A single episode may not cause a
problem, but a series of miscommunications and hurt feelings can give rise to resentment and
to building conflict between the couple.
The allocation of scarce resources can affect people at the personal level through to the global
level. In families one sibling may perceive that the other is always favoured over them,
whether for affection or time, or have more money spent on them. In the workplace
environment, declining trading conditions may require cutting the hours of workers. How
those cuts are made can be a great source of conflict. At the global level, nations can come
into conflict over ownership of mineral and oil deposits, over water sources and land.
With regard to history you only need to look at the conflicts that have arisen in post-colonial
Africa or the Balkans for examples where boundaries previously enforced for commercial or
political reasons break down and old conflicts resurface.

Reading 2.2
Brandon, M and Robertson L (2007). Conflict and Dispute Resolution: A Guide for Practice.
Oxford University Press: Melbourne, pp. 21-35.
This reading describes some of the conflict causes that may occur in a workplace context.
Conflict in the Workplace In Context
The causes of conflict can be applied across most contexts, but the workplace may have its
own unique set of conflict causes.
a. Cultural Diversity
Australia has become even more culturally diverse with the increased number of overseas
migrants and guest labourers coming into Australia. With a more diverse workforce comes
different ways in which conflict is viewed and handled and also different ways of thinking,
feeling and acting (Brandon & Robertson, 2007). Coming from very different parts of the
world, these workers may have different ideas on work ethic, socialisation and independence.
Such differences can be a recipe for conflict.
b. How meaning is made of events
Conflict can escalate based on how meaning is drawn from an event (Brandon & Robertson,
2007). For example, one co-worker forgot to invite another co-worker to lunch party with the
rest of the staff. This co-worker interprets this as being an outsider and not being liked which
led to covert forms of conflict.
c. Stereotyping
Conflict can occur when people categorise others into a larger group. For example,
stereotyping an Australian with an Italian ethic background as being “Italian”, may cause
resentment as people want to be seen as an individual rather than be labelled as a
representative of an ethnic group.
d. Gender
Stereotyping can also apply to gender where women are perceived as their male counterparts
as being over emotional and too nurturing for the business industry (Brandon & Robertson,
2007). These stereotypes can cause tension between co-workers and may lead to an

environment of competition rather than co-operation. With female and male workers
competing for limited senior level roles, conflict is even more inevitable.
e. Generational Influences
The Australian workplace now has a mix of generations. With these different generations
come differences in work ethic, job security, technology competence and different views on
work/life balance, which of course can lead to conflict (Brandon & Robertson, 2007). For
example, Generation X may perceive Generation Y as overconfident, lacking in loyalty. Such
negative perceptions could then escalate to sarcastic remarks, criticism which could later
escalate into overt conflict.
Reading 2.3
Please read the following for additional causes of conflict:
Eunson, B (2007). Conflict Management. John Wiley & Sons: Australia. Chapter 1, pages 4-
6.
f. Adversity
Eunson (2007) suggests that economic hardship can increase stress and make individuals,
groups and nations more likely to get into conflict. For example, when people and
organisations are stressed, internal conflicts between individuals and departments can
escalate.
g. Biology
Eunson (2007) also agrees with some leading psychological research that some individuals
are predisposed towards conflict. He adds that because of their biological predisposition; they
resolve it through aggression, verbal and physical violence.
h. Health and Environment
Eunson (2007) also cites when people are sick, tired, they are less tolerant of ambiguity and
differences; and more likely to engage in conflict under some circumstances. Overcrowding
and heat are also cited as a source of conflict.

Benefits of categorising causes of conflict
When agreeing to mediate a conflict, the mediator is required to assess how best to resolve it.
If for instance the mediator assumes a conflict is about scarce resources (e.g. money) when in
fact it is about fairness (values) then the approach taken may not resolve the issue.
Being able to categorise the problem allows the mediator to better manage the process by
concentrating on the context (category) rather than the content (all the facts of the particular)
event.
Types of conflict
In week, we defined conflict in various ways but the core was that it arises between two (or
more) parties. Cheldelin, Druckman and Fast (2008) discuss the following four types of
conflict, however, only the last three fit the description of conflict for the purposes of this
course.
 intrapersonal (within a person)
 interpersonal
 intragroup
 intergroup
Interpersonal conflicts occur between individuals. Examples are domestic disputes, sibling
hostility, disputes between boss and subordinate and between neighbours.
Intragroup conflicts occur within groups. Conflict within work teams, between departmental
colleagues, on the boards of clubs and associations, or coups and spills in political parties are
examples of intragroup conflict.
Intergroup conflicts occur between two or more groups. These could be unions and
management, neighbourhood groups, rival gangs, police and citizens, local communities and
businesses or warring nations.
These are however quite broad groupings and the skills and resources required to deal with an
intergroup conflict between two nations will be different to those required to work with a

union and an employer for instance. It is therefore useful to further break down the types of
conflict based on size and scope. Typical categories are:
 interpersonal conflict
 workplace conflict
 group conflict
 community conflict
 global conflict
The reason for categorising conflicts in this way is that there will often be common issues
that apply and strategies that can be used whenever conflicts fall into the same category.
Interpersonal and family conflict
Whilst at its heart all conflict involves people, there is a difference between the conflict that
arises due to an external situation (such as two workmates requiring the same resources) to
the conflict that occurs on a purely personal level. Conflict at this level can occur between
friends, business partners, in committees or within a family, in fact, wherever two people are
required to interact.
Where minors are involved the strategies employed to manage the conflict must adhere to
guidelines for dealing with children. In interpersonal conflict, relatively more use of private
sessions may be needed to give the participants space to speak freely. It should be noted that
conflicts that have started for an external reason can be made “personal” to the extent that the
original source of conflict is forgotten.
Of any interpersonal conflict, the one within a family relationship will be the most intense
you are likely to encounter. Strong positive emotions can give way to equally strong negative
emotions. A couple who came together because of mutual affection, love and respect and had
formed bonds over many years can become bitter enemies when the relationship breaks
down. Children brought up together can fall out over a contested will and never be in
communication with each other again. Some families seem to be in constant conflict yet
function well, whilst others can be torn apart when conflict arises. This is because some
families have the skills to resolve conflicts whilst others do not.

Another major importance of family conflict is that it is within the family that children will
learn their style of conflict management, which they will take into all aspects of their lives.
Workplace conflict
It is important to differentiate between interpersonal conflict that occurs in the workplace and
workplace conflict of a more structural kind such as between workers and management over
pay and conditions or safety. A workplace is a specific type of group.
One of the key elements of workplace conflict is that there may be power imbalances
between protagonists. The effects can also be wide spread beyond the original conflict,
affecting the whole team.
A common aspect of workplaces is that you do not have complete control over your output.
That is you require input from other people to complete your tasks. In an assembly line it is
quite obvious how the whole line shuts down or backs up when one component fails. What is
not quite so obvious is why you missed a deadline for a report because someone else failed in
their responsibility to you. Consistently being let down will soon lead to conflict, but how it
manifests will depend upon the power relationship between the two team members.
Group conflict
As discussed previously, people have different styles when dealing with conflict. In a group
situation, it is more than likely that several different styles will be exhibited and dealt with.
The most common group scenario is a work team, which will have its own externally
imposed structure as well as the internal structure developed by the group. Groups are not
limited to the workplace however, and may involve groups defined by ethnicity, sexual
preference, demography etc.
An example of group conflict is the disagreement between the Federal Government and
teachers over the ranking of schools according to national competency tests. Also involved
are the parents, comprising another group. The conflict is characterised by the political and
ideological differences and self-interest of all three groups together with the interest in the
best outcome for students.

Community conflict
As with group conflict, community conflict is a multi-party situation and can be very
complex. Within the community, there may well be several groups and not all matters will
affect all groups. An example of a community conflict is the proposed compulsory
acquisition of land to build a dam (specifically Tillegra Dam in the Hunter Valley region of
NSW). Several obvious distinct groups may be affected, with membership of the groups
overlapping. Firstly, there are the landholders whose lands will be acquired, and then there
are the businesses that deal with those landholders, businesses that could stand to gain from
increased economic activity arising from building the dam (e.g. housing requirements, work
on dam projects etc). Environmental groups are also concerned about the situation and its
effects on land and water downstream from the actual dam. Some members of the community
oppose the dam but accept that, should it go ahead, there would be a possibility to make use
of it for tourism, whilst others oppose the dam but wish that if it does go ahead it be kept
“pristine” and no recreational use be allowed. Hunter Water who are charged with building
the dam have no preference either way, they will do “what the community wants” in terms of
recreational use. There is an enormous potential for complex conflict.
Extreme examples of community conflict result in genocide such as seen in Rwanda and
Cambodia or the constant civil war in Somalia to name but a few.
Reading 2.4
Please read the following article:
Warner, M. (2000) Conflict Management in Community-Based Natural Resource Projects,
Overseas Development Institute available at:
http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/2026.pdf.
This article is a case study of a community conflict in Fiji and demonstrates the strategies
used to resolve the conflict.

Global conflict
Global conflict could be described as community conflict on a grand scale. The extreme
expression of conflict is expressed as war between nations, in which large numbers of
individuals are involved but who do not necessarily have any personal vested interest in the
original cause of the conflict. Acts of terrorism and other acts of aggression are also
manifestations of global conflict. The conflict however, does not have to be expressed in such
violent terms. International tribunals exist in order to work with territorial and trade disputes.
You do not have to look far for examples of global conflict of great complexity. The conflict
in Iraq has been drawn out, complex and far-reaching and so far intractable to resolution.
Likewise, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has proved highly resistant to resolution.
Activity 2.1
This video shows how listening carefully to parties helps mediators identify the type of
conflict, causes and possible solutions to the conflict. Review the video: Workplace
Mediation – Conflict Resolution Process at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtJN1b3znk
 What are the causes of conflict?
 How would you resolve this conflict? Give reasons for your choice.
Resources
Billikopf, G. (2009). Party Directed Mediation: Help Others Resolve Differences. Regents of
University of California. Chapter 4. Available at: http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/ucce50/aglabor/7conflict/04.pdf(accessed 19/12/2014).
Cheldelin, S, Druckman D & Fast L. (2008). Conflict: from analysis to intervention(2nd
edition). The Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd: London.
Dutton, S.(2012). Workplace Mediation – Conflict Resolution Process. The Conflict
Consultancy. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtJN1b3z-nk(accessed
19./7/2012).
Eunson, B (2007) Conflict Management. John Wiley & Sons: Australia.

Mayer, B.(2000).The dynamics of conflict resolution: a practitioner’s guide. Jossey-Bass
Publishers: San Francisco
Thompson, J. (2012) The Wheel of Conflict. Beyond Words: The science and fun of
nonverbal communication. Available: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beyondwords/201204/the-wheel-conflict(Accessed 19/12/2014).
Whetton, D and Cameron, K. (2007). Developing Management Skills 7th ed Pearson
Education: Upper Saddle River New Jersey.
Extension readings and resources
Bell and Hart’s Eight Causes of Conflict
This site shows Bell and Hart’s 8 Causes of Conflict and strategies for dealing with them.
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/eight-causes-conflict.htm