Conflict avoidance
method of dealing with conflict, which attempts to avoid directly confronting the issue at hand
Conflict avoidance is a set of behaviors aimed at preventing or minimizing disagreement with another person. These behaviors can occur before the conflict emerges (e.g., avoiding certain topics, changing the subject) or after the conflict has been expressed (e.g., withholding disagreement, withdrawing from the conversation, giving in). Conflict avoidance can be employed as a temporary measure within a specific situation or as a more permanent approach, such as establishing "taboo topics" or exiting a relationship.
Although conflict avoidance can exist in any interpersonal relationship, it has been studied most closely in the contexts of family and work relationships. Consequently, research on conflict avoidance spans various disciplines including clinical psychology, social psychology, organizational behavior, communication studies, and family studies.
Scholars use the term conflict avoidance to characterize specific behaviors as well as a broader conflict style. A conflict happens when two opposing forces meet and cannot be easily resolved. A conflict management style is an individual's preferred method for handling conflict. Those with an avoidant style tend to sidestep disagreement, postpone dealing with conflict, or withdraw.
Traditionally, conflict avoidance has been considered a dysfunctional approach to managing conflict by researchers, clinicians, and the general public because it leaves issues unresolved and can lead to resentment.
“Conflict avoidance” enters the record as method of dealing with conflict, which attempts to avoid directly confronting the issue at hand. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Conflict, avoidance and method can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Conflict avoidance” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.