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Jonathon Mai

COMM 1080

Professor Jones

11 December 2020

Final Paper: Communication and Conflict

The concept of communication is key to developing meaningful interactions and

relationships. While communication provides an opportunity for exchanging ideas and

agreements, conflicts can also arise. The objectives of this report are to explore the

elements of communication and conflict along with providing an analysis of personal

experiences that illustrates these topics. Lastly, a reflection will be included in these

experiences and explain how it’ll be applied to my personal life.

Communication is an important concept we as humans have learned and

developed over hundreds of years. Over time, the ways we communicate with each

other has been adapting to the advances in our society. To explain communication

simply, it is the idea of exchanging ideas or information between each other. These

ideas and information can be subjective which may lead to agreements or

disagreements. When a party or individual reaches a disagreement or argument, it is

considered a conflict. The assumptions of conflicts are usually viewed in a negative

light, but in reality, it is normal. Parties need to accept conflicts as part of life dynamics

and learn to deal with them effectively and efficiently (Elgoibar et al., 2017). While

conflicts arise from certain forms of communication, it is dependent on the receiving

party to react positively or negatively.

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There are a variety of factors as to why a person might react a certain way depending

on the attitude. Some examples of reactionary attitudes that cause conflict include

judgment, insult, threateningly, and disrespectful attitudes. The overall attitude of a party

can stem from a variety of places depending on the intended meaning of the

communication received. This can be complex due to our personal experiences and

perspectives on certain topics. When certain meanings of an exchange of

communication cross a line in which we have in place, the possibility of a conflict can

occur.

While a conflict can depend on the receiving party's reaction to the exchange of

communication. It is also dependable on the meaning of the other end of the

conversation, the ones who are delivering what is being communicated. Meaning is

established by the intention of the speaker, the receptivity and attitude of the listener,

and the larger context in which the communication takes place (Jones 2018). While

intentions aren’t always positive, it is important to make your intentions clear. A

fluctuation of tones, body language, and physicality, are some factors to consider when

communicating with others. The misuse of some of these factors can potentially cause a

misunderstanding, resulting in a miscommunication of information or ideas.

The concept of miscommunication between two parties can happen often just as

much as the conflict itself. There will be a time where the intended communication was

misjudged and eventually causing a conflict. Reflecting on my personal life, there have

been a few times where situations such as that have happened. For instance, there

have been times where the use of sarcasm has caused some conflicts. The reason

being is that the party who is receiving the information can either take it literally or in
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other cases since it was not really intended what was actually meant. This concept falls

under an individual's sense of perception. Perception is the ability to translate

information into insight or awareness about something, usually people, places, events,

or objects (Brown 2015). With the ability to perceive things that are intended, you can

look through one’s sarcasm and see the true meaning. However, many people are

different and at times that idea falls short.

Reflecting upon what I’ve learned through communication and conflict, we should

be aware of how we communicate with each other. When it comes to conflicts, we at

times tend to avoid the issues instead of understanding and resolving the problems.

When communicating, we need to be aware of how we communicate with others such

as our body language and our use of tones. This as a result will improve my

relationships with others. I tend to avoid conflicts as much as possible. After realizing

that isn’t the most effective way to handle situations, it will impact my relationships with

others positively.
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Reference

Angelo, Elizabeth MSN, RN-BC, CPHQ, NEA-BC Managing interpersonal conflict,

Nursing Management (Springhouse): June 2019 - Volume 50 - Issue 6 - p 22-28doi:

10.1097/01.NUMA.0000558479.54449.ed

Elgoibar, P., Euwema, M., & Munduate, L. (2017, June 28). Conflict Management.

https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.001.0001/acrefore-

9780190236557-e-5.

Jones, J. (2018). Communication & Conflict

Brown, Ford (2015). DK Communication