This post has been written by Judith Rafferty, adapted from her Open Educational Resource (OER) Neuroscience, psychology and conflict management (2024), licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 Licence by James Cook University.

Conflict Management: A Multidisciplinary Field

While there are designated conflict management scholars and practitioners, many ideas that inform both theory and practice come from outside the field. Individuals involved in conflict management often come from a broad spectrum of disciplines, particularly in the social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, history, geography, communication studies, political science, international relations, organizational behavior, and anthropology.

Contributions to conflict management are also made from the formal sciences like mathematics, physics, biology, and neuroscience. By exploring some of these disciplines in more detail, we can gain valuable perspectives that deepen our understanding of conflict formation, escalation, management, and resolution. Psychology and neuroscience offer some especially useful perspectives and are the focus of this post.

The Role of Psychology in Conflict Management

Psychology and some of its branches are highly relevant for both theory and practice in conflict management. For instance, the American Psychological Association has a division specifically dedicated to applying psychology knowledge to conflict situations, called “The Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology”. In fact, peace psychology is a distinct field of study with an International Centre for Peace Psychology, and the journal Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology.

Similarly, the Australian Psychological Society (APS) highlights the contributions psychologists make to understanding and managing conflict. According to the APS, psychology provides key insights into the psychological factors that underpin social conflict and aims to identify effective ways to foster positive relationships and productive outcomes. These approaches include strategies for resolving conflicts and governance models that prioritise cooperation over coercion (APS, 2023).

Understanding Psychology: A Foundation for Conflict Management

Psychology focuses on the study of mental processes and behaviour (and their relationship) (Zimbardo, Johnson, & McCann, 2009). The field of psychology comprises multiple sub-groups, or branches of psychology (Mullin, n.d.). Some of these branches are especially relevant to conflict management, including personality psychology, cognitive psychology, and social psychology. So, what do these branches focus on and how are they relevant to conflict management?

Cognitive psychology

Most generally, cognitive psychology is concerned with the study of mental processes such as thinking, learning, remembering, perception, information processing, language, problem-solving, decision-making, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology also considers people’s emotions and the impact of emotions on cognition. All cognitive processes mentioned earlier, as well as the effect of emotions on them, are highly relevant to the experience and management of conflict. For example, multiple mental processes and emotions are involved when people try to resolve conflicts, e.g. they must retrieve information about past conflict events and make decisions as to how to move forward. At the same time, mental processes and emotions are likely to have contributed to and have been affected by the conflict in the first place. For example, many conflicts arise because people have perceived events differently. More information about how cognitive psychology may relate to conflict management can be found here.

Figure 2.2.1. Six or Nine? Image generated with Adobe Firefly; Rafferty, J. (2024). Neuroscience, psychology, and conflict management. James Cook University. https://doi.org/10.25120/k4vd-86×5

Personality Psychology

Personality psychology is the scientific study of the whole person (McAdams, 2009). It focuses on human individuality and may address questions like:

Why does Paul act more violently than Peter in the same situation?
Why do Tracey and Sam have such different ways of communicating and managing conflict?

Personality psychology is distinct from other branches of psychology by focusing more on the person than on the situation. This is not to say though, that personality psychology neglects the situation. But rather than exploring how most people would act under certain circumstances, personality psychology tries to explain or predict how a specific type of person would most react in each situation. Conflict management practitioners and theorists have noted the effects that individual differences in personality may have on the formation and escalation of conflict, as well as on conflict resolution processes and their outcomes (Sandy et al., 2014). More information on how personality psychology may inform conflict management can be found here.

Social psychology

Social psychology seeks to answer questions like:

Why do people act differently when they are in a group compared to when they are on their own?
Why do people behave differently among their co-workers compared to when they are with their friends and family?
Why do people hold prejudice and stereotypes against certain groups and how may these affect their behaviours?
How can social cohesion best be strengthened to prevent social division and conflict?

Social psychology may be defined as “the scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context” (Kassin et al., 2020, p. 4). All three areas, thinking, feeling, and behaving are involved and affected during the emergence, escalation, management, and resolution of conflicts. Several notable books in the field have focused on the applications of social psychology for conflict theory and practice, such as:

Social conflict: Escalation, stalemate, and settlement by Pruitt and Kim (2004)
Intractable conflicts: Socio-psychological foundations and dynamics by Bar-Tal (2013).

A more detailed discussion of the application of social psychology for conflict management can be accessed here.

Neuroscience and Conflict: Bridging the Gap

Beyond psychology, the field of conflict management is increasingly looking to neuroscience for insights into why conflicts occur and how they can be effectively managed or resolved. Many conflict management scholars and practitioners recognise that people’s brains and bodies are significantly involved in facilitating societal conflict.

For instance, Mary Fitzduff (2021) notes in her book Our brains at war that recent advancements in genetics, brain science, and hormonal research suggest that many personality characteristics are rooted in the brain’s biology. By offering “new and more sophisticated and nuanced insights into the way that people actually think”, neuroscience makes a critical contribution to the field of conflict management (Burgess, 2022). As another example, Bruneau (2015), in her book chapter Putting neuroscience to work for peace, emphasises the value of directly examining neural activity to transform psychology-based conflict theories into mechanistic understandings (p. 143).

Knowledge from neuroscience can also help inform and evaluate the purpose, potential, design and principles of justice and conflict resolution processes, as well as the role and skills of conflict practitioners. For instance, findings from neuroscience can increase our understanding of aggression in people, which again may have implications for processes like restorative justice, as discussed in a Ted Talk by Dan Reisel. Other examples of how neuroscience can inform conflict management theory and practice, as well as links to related readings, can be found here.

Neuroscience Meets Psychology: A Synergy for Conflict Management

Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system and an interdisciplinary field that integrates biology, chemistry, psychology, and more. Of particular interest for conflict management theory and practice are the intersections between neuroscience and psychology. It may help to think of neuroscience as dealing with the ‘physical’ (brain) and psychology dealing with the ‘abstract’ (mind).

The functioning of our brain, hormones and neurotransmitters significantly affects our behaviours, cognitions, and social experiences. That is why the links between neuroscience and different areas of psychology are increasingly being recognised, studied, and taught. The growing recognition of these links has led to the emergence of new interdisciplinary fields, such as social neuroscience and cognitive neuroscience (Ito & Kubota, 2022). Both are highly relevant to conflict management theory and practice.

Knowledge from social neuroscience, for instance, can increase our understanding of intergroup and social conflict, including the sources and factors that create, perpetuate, contribute to, and escalate intergroup conflict. This knowledge may again inform the planning and design of conflict intervention initiatives to help manage intergroup and social conflict. You can find further readings about social neuroscience and intergroup conflict in the previously mentioned Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology as well as other Peace Psychology publications, including the newsletter The Peace Psychologist and the blog Dialogues with Peace and Conflict.

Conclusion

The integration of psychology and its branches, as well as of neuroscience offers critical insights into the questions why conflict occurs, how it develops and how it may be managed. By exploring the connections between the human mind, brain, and behavior, conflict management can be more effective and nuanced. Many of these connections are discussed in more detail in Judith’s (2024) eBook Neuroscience, psychology and conflict management, from which this post has been adapted. A course on Neuroscience, Psychology and Conflict Management will also be developed next year to be offered through the Conflict Management Academy.

A full reference list of the readings referred to in this post can be found here.

Author Biography

Judith Rafferty is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Cairns Institute, JCU, and a Senior Trainer at the Conflict Management Academy. She integrates over 12 years of experience as a conflict management practitioner, researcher, and educator/trainer. She holds a PhD in Conflict Resolution, a Master of Conflict and Dispute Resolution, a Graduate Business Administration Diploma, and a Graduate Certificate in Psychology. As a Senior Lecturer and former Director of the postgraduate Conflict Management and Resolution program at James Cook University, Judith played a key role in developing curriculum and training resources that assist professionals in navigating complex conflict situations.
Judith can be contacted on:
Email: judith@conflictmanagementacademy.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judith-rafferty-770a329b

This post is republished with permission from the Conflict Management Academy.

Claire Holland and Judith Rafferty, conflict management specialists, academics, researchers and trainers with the Conflict Management Academy (CMA), say YES! According to Judith and Claire, frameworks are a useful way to break down and look at complicated conflict situations in a way that can bring greater awareness, understanding, and clarity to the situation. It’s not suggested that frameworks simplify the conflict, but that they are useful to make the conflict appear more manageable.

Practically, a framework can help to better understand a complex conflict by allowing the user to view the conflict through different lenses. Frameworks can also suggest multiple ways of thinking about the issues at hand, help the user to develop a more detailed and holistic picture of the conflict, and then consider multiple opportunities to work with the conflict. Claire and Judith suggest that using frameworks in conflict management contexts have multiple benefits, including:

Assisting conflict management specialists, like mediators, conflict management coaches, and HR professionals, to work with clients to gather necessary information about the conflict and its context, and decide on next steps.
Supporting clients to take a step back or ‘go to the balcony’ and perhaps not react out of habit and prior learned behaviour, but to suspend judgement on the situation until a more holistic analysis of the situation has been conducted.
Thinking about future options that might be quite different from a conflict parties’ initial reaction to the situation once the conflict has been considered through different lenses.
Focusing on long term strategies to manage the conflict by considering how the conflict may play out overtime. Looking at a conflict through an analytical lens and framework helps the user to determine if the issues in the conflict are suited to resolution or require alternative approaches to manage the conflict.

Conflict Analysis Framework

Drawing on years of teaching, research, and conflict management practice, Judith and Claire, have developed a framework to support conflict management specialists and conflict parties better understand ‘what is going on’ in a conflict situation. Drawing on multidisciplinary scholarship, including conflict studies, psychology, management, history, political science, etc. the Conflict Analysis Framework guides users through a step-by-step process to compartmentalise a complex conflict into more manageable segments for analysis.

Spencer, Barry, and Ojelabi in their text Dispute Resolution in Australia provide only a short commentary on conflict analysis. While they note that it’s not easy to analyse complex conflicts, they suggest that conflict specialists would ideally have knowledge of multiple analytical tools and models to help them collect information about the conflict, understand the conflict dynamics and to support the conflict parties to constructively manage or resolve the conflict. Condliffe, in his text Conflict Management: A practical guide, leads the reader through a process of ‘understanding conflict’ and presents several considerations in ‘responding to conflict’. Condliffe outlines several models of conflict but does not provide a clear overarching framework for analysis.

Several scholars and practitioners have introduced frameworks or tools to support conflict analysis. For example, Furlong, in his book The Conflict Resolution Toolbox, introduces 8 different models that help analyse and intervene in conflict, all considering different aspects of the conflict. This resource is particularly useful for interpersonal, less complex conflict situations. Bright’s Conflict Mapping Chart, lists specific elements for consideration in a conflict analysis process, aimed at analysing complex conflicts. Referring to Wehr’s Conflict Mapping Guide and Sandole’s Three Pillar Approach, Bright’s mapping chart describes five key steps to consider for analysis, informing a sixth step of conflict intervention. Judith and Claire have previously used this Chart in their teaching, as well as to develop engaging resources to be used for teaching conflict analysis.

Drawing on the work of colleagues and contemporary scholars, Claire and Judith have developed an 8-step framework for conflict analysis that will be introduced in their webinar Beyond Resolution: A planned approach to conflict engagement, available to view on demand on the CMA website.

Planned Approach to Conflict Engagement

Many conflicts have resolvable elements, but may also have ongoing aspects. For example, a divorcing couple may be able to negotiate and decide on selling the family home. However, decisions about their children’s future education, extracurricular activities, health, nutrition, etc., can’t really be negotiated as a one off, but will need to be managed for as long as both parents are involved in their children’s upbringing. So in the conflict analysis process that we described above, it is important to recognise the different aspects of a conflict, e.g. as resolvable or ongoing elements, and address them appropriately. Judith and Claire have developed a framework to support parties consider their options for “conflict engagement” as an alternative approach to dealing with conflict when elements of the conflict may be ongoing, and where resolution is not possible, or may be ill-advised.

The Planned Approach to Conflict Engagement, or PACE for short, draws on multidisciplinary scholarship, such as Bernard Mayer’s book Staying with Conflict: A strategic approach to ongoing conflict, Sam Hardy’s book Conflict Coaching Fundamentals: Working with conflict stories, as well as contemporary literature on neuroscience, psychology and emotions, including Judith’s recently published open access educational resources. PACE has also been informed by Judith’s and Claire’s own research and practice as conflict management specialists, including in Australia and in culturally diverse settings like the Central African Republic, Rwanda, the Philippines and refugee camps on the Thailand-Myanmar border. They have published a blog post and a journal article about their work as mediation specialists in some of these settings, discussing the adaptation of mediation models to different cultural settings.

Claire and Judith suggest that the development of a constructive and sustainable conflict engagement plan is ideally based on an exploration of several key areas, which they describe in detail in PACE. With the assistance of a suite of prompt questions and models for categorization for each of these key areas, the PACE framework assists conflict parties in deepening and expanding their understanding of the conflict itself as well as their options to engage constructively in the conflict over time. Some key recommendations for a sustainable approach to engagement in ongoing conflict include that parties:

Have understood the ongoing nature of at least some aspects of their conflict, and
Develop a plan to manage their emotions, energy, and access to resources and support long-term. This point is important so that parties don’t burn out and can continue to stay productive and engaged in the conflict over time.

In the webinar Beyond Resolution: A planned approach to conflict engagement, available to view on demand on the CMA website, Judith and Claire are introducing their PACE framework in addition to the Conflict Analysis Framework. They will also offer training on the Planned Approach to Conflict Engagement (PACE) Framework on the CMA platform.