What is conflict? Is it the clash of personalities? Is it a difference of opinion? Is it a misunderstanding? Is it the attempt to right a wrong? Is it a contest for scarce resources? Group members engage in conflict for all these reasons. It seems that everyone knows conflict when they see it. Yet, when individuals experience conflict, they find it difficult, at best, to understand it and deal with it. The same is true for those who study it.

How and Why Groups Engage in Conflict

Group communication researchers pay special attention to how conflict is expressed, created, and managed through communication. While they recognize numerous causes for conflict, they focus on the variety of ways in which group members use messages to express conflict. Researchers' special interest lies in how people use messages to manage the "causes" of conflict, such...