This activity helps you understand conflict and how to effectively manage it in a variety of relationships.
The scenarios below represent conflicts between relational partners. Read each carefully and answer the following questions in at least one full paragraph for each scenario.
- What relationship tensions are at play?
- Which conflict approach would you use in this situation?
- What are the potential strengths of using this style?
- What are the potential weaknesses of using this style?
SCENARIO 1:
Your roommate has a job waiting tables and gets home around midnight on Thursdaynights. She often brings a couple friends from work home with her. They watch television, listen to music, or play video games and talk and laugh. You have an 8 a.m. class on Friday mornings and are usually asleep when she returns. Last Friday, you talked to her and asked her to keep it down in the future. Tonight, their noise has woken you up and you can’t get back to sleep.
SCENARIO 2:
A fellow worker, Alice, has been reporting to the boss the progress of your group in such a way that it appears that she is the central force and the “idea person” in the group. This is not true since her contributions have been about equal to the others. The other group members don’t know she has been advancing her position in the organization at the expense of others (and maybe even making others look unproductive). You know what Alice is doing. Alice is slightly above you in rank, and you like her and work well with her. You feel, however, that her easy and regular access to the boss and inaccurate reporting of the group’s progress will ultimately undermine the others in the group.
SCENARIO 3:
You and Alex have been in a committed relationship for three years. Over the past few months, Alex has been spending more time with other friends than with you. When you are together, Alex texts and checks social media throughout the time you are together, and Alex is often unable to recall what you discussed during your time together.
SCENARIO 4:
Your sister just announced she is moving to the same city as you. When you were children, you were very close and often hung out together in social situations. As adults, you continued to visit one another as often as possible and maintained a close bond. You both discuss how exciting it will be to finally live close enough to be each other’s plus one again. However, after she moves nearby, she is rarely available, instead spending all her time with her new work friends. They visit all the places you had hoped to visit with your sister.
SCENARIO 5:
You are close friends with a couple. They ask you to be in their wedding party, and you happily agree. Soon, you discover they are having a destination wedding at an expensive resort in Colorado. They are not covering any travel expenses for the wedding party, and they have activities planned for an entire week (all of which are mandatory for the wedding party). In addition, when they send you the requirements for your wedding party attire, their choice is a designer ensemble that does not have an option to rent. You’ve already agreed to be in the wedding, but as a working college student, you are short on both time and money.
SCENARIO 6:
A new family moves in next door to you in an apartment building. You learn they are from a country different from your own, and they seem friendly and interesting. You share a common language, although it is a second language for one of you. Shortly after they’ve moved in, they invite you to a party at their apartment. You accept and offer to bring something. Your neighbor looks horrified and hurt by your question.
THIS ASSIGNMENT MUST FOLLOW THIS FORMAT:
- at least one full paragraph per scenario (can be longer but not too much longer)
- saved as any of the following file types: .doc, .docx, .gdoc (If you are unable to save as one of these, please notify me BEFORE the paper is due)
- double-spaced
- Times New Roman
- 12 point, black font
- No cover page
