Conflict Resolution Strategies Research Articles

The Ethno-Religious Contradictions as Threats to the North Caucasus Stability and Integration

Latent ethno-religious conflicts remain the most destructive of contemporary threats to the North Caucasus integration and stability. The fundamental issue that requires a constructive solution in order to ensure security in this region is the promotion of ethnic peace and tolerance. This research aims to analyse how deep-rooted ethno-religious contradictions can affect regional stability and conflict resolution strategy. The paper attempts to answer an essential research question that unresolved protracted contradictions have fundamental consequences for the North Caucasus. The growing regional disintegration, deep social inequalities, and ineffective institutions all add significantly to the appeal of radical Islamist ideology, erode trust in the state, and constitute a key reason the North Caucasian conflicts are so difficult to resolve. All of these increase the citizens’ alienation from the state and promote the search for radical alternatives, including ISIS and jihad: ethno-religious radicalism becomes a major conflict driver.

Prior territorial responses and home range size predict territory defense in radio-tagged great tits

Territorial animals often use signals to advertise territorial occupancy within their larger home ranges. Songbirds are among the best-studied territorial signaling taxa, and when competitors start singing during a territorial intrusion, residents usually show elevated spatial and vocal responses. These responses could be used by intruders and distant eavesdroppers to predict future responses or to compare responses across competitors. Yet, the extent to which responses of a resident to a territorial intrusion predict its future responses and its overall spatial behavior (home range) within a neighborhood is less well understood. We used wild great tits (Parus major) as a model species in repeated song playback trials, simulating territorial intrusions combined with radio-tracking before and during playback trials. The time spent close to the loudspeaker in response to an initial simulated intrusion predicted the same response variable during a second simulated intrusion on the next day, whereas singing activity during the first simulated intrusion did not predict singing during the second simulated intrusion. We also show that more explorative males (as determined by a novel environment test) and males with smaller home ranges sang more and spent more time near the loudspeaker in response to both simulated intrusions. Thus, by probing residents, intruders can obtain reliable information about subsequent response probabilities, while eavesdroppers from a distance, who can use auditory information only, would not receive sufficient predictive information. Our findings also suggest that males with larger home ranges are more tolerant toward intruders, which could reflect a trade-off between tendencies to respond strongly and to range widely. The lack of predictability of singing activity with regard to responses to future intrusions might explain why territorial animals continuously exchange vocal signals and regularly foray into neighboring territories, as a way to obtain regular information updates.Significance StatementAnimals use experience from interactions with conspecifics in their future decision making, such as mate choice and strategies for conflict resolution. The value of such information depends in part on the predictability of the future behavior of that conspecific. In songbirds, territorial individuals respond to intruders by approach and signaling. Here, we tested in radio-tagged great tits (Parus major) if territorial responses are predictable and are affected by individual and environmental factors. We show that the time spent near the simulated intruder was more predictable than singing activity and that birds with larger home ranges showed weaker responses. These findings suggest that information based on such spatial responses is more useful for future decision making, as compared to vocal information, and that distant eavesdroppers will thus receive less reliable information. Limited predictability may explain why territorial animals continuously exchange vocal signals and foray into neighboring territories, providing opportunities for regular information updates.

Developing Conflict Resolution Strategies and Building Resilient Midwifery Students: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Research Study.

BackgroundWorkplace bullying and violence (WBV) are well-documented issues in the midwifery profession. Negative workplace culture, conflict, and bullying are the most common forms of workplace violence experienced by midwives. Workplace violence increases the risk of midwives experiencing burnout, compassion fatigue, psychological trauma, poor mental health, absenteeism, loss of passion for the midwifery profession, job dissatisfaction, and poor job retention. Midwifery students describe workplace violence in the form of physical, emotional, or verbal abuse, and bullying. Therefore, there is a justification to develop conflict resolution strategies and resilience in midwifery students prior to graduation.ObjectiveOur aim is to develop and facilitate a bespoke education program for South Australian midwifery students to enable them to develop skills in conflict resolution, build resilience, and identify self-care strategies.MethodsThis study will undertake a preparatory phase summarizing the body of literature on midwifery students’ knowledge, understanding, and experiences of WBV. Following this, a 3-phase sequential mixed methods research design study will be undertaken. In Phase 1, quantitative data will be collected via a semistructured questionnaire and a validated conflict measurement tool, before and after attending an education workshop, and will be analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results from Phase 1 will inform and guide the development of an interview schedule for Phase 2. In Phase 2, qualitative data will be gathered by facilitating one-to-one interviews and a thematic analysis will be undertaken to gain a deeper understanding of midwifery students’ experiences of WBV. In Phase 3, data integration using triangulation will be undertaken and meta-inferences will be developed via the integration of results and findings from Phases 1 and 2.ResultsThe preparatory phase will commence in October 2021. Phase 1 will commence in 2022 with analysis of pre- and posteducation results anticipated to be completed by December 2022. Phase 2 will be developed from findings of the preparatory phase and results of Phase 1. An interpretation of verbatim interview transcripts is estimated to be undertaken by April 2023. Phase 3 of the study is expected to commence in May 2023, and this will involve the analysis of collective evidence gathered from Phases 1 and 2. The anticipated completion date for the study is December 2023.ConclusionsThe outcomes of this research will provide insights into the prevalence and impact of WBV experienced by midwifery students. The findings of the research will report on levels of knowledge, skills, and confidence, and will assess the impact of a bespoke conflict resolution and resilience education workshop for midwifery students in managing WBV.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/35558

Four-month incidence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among healthcare workers after the first wave of the Spain COVID-19 pandemic

Healthcare workers (HCW) are at high risk for suicide, yet little is known about the onset of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) in this important segment of the population in conjunction with the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a multicenter, prospective cohort study of Spanish HCW active during the COVID-9 pandemic. A total of n = 4809 HCW participated at baseline (May–September 2020; i.e., just after the first wave of the pandemic) and at a four-month follow-up assessment (October–December 2020) using web-based surveys. Logistic regression assessed the individual- and population-level associations of separate proximal (pandemic) risk factors with four-month STB incidence (i.e., 30-day STB among HCW negative for 30-day STB at baseline), each time adjusting for distal (pre-pandemic) factors. STB incidence was estimated at 4.2% (SE = 0.5; n = 1 suicide attempt). Adjusted for distal factors, proximal risk factors most strongly associated with STB incidence were various sources of interpersonal stress (scaled 0–4; odds ratio [OR] range = 1.23–1.57) followed by personal health-related stress and stress related to the health of loved ones (scaled 0–4; OR range 1.30–1.32), and the perceived lack of healthcare center preparedness (scaled 0–4; OR = 1.34). Population-attributable risk proportions for these proximal risk factors were in the range 45.3–57.6%. Other significant risk factors were financial stressors (OR range 1.26–1.81), isolation/quarantine due to COVID-19 (OR = 1.53) and having changed to a specific COVID-19 related work location (OR = 1.72). Among other interventions, our findings call for healthcare systems to implement adequate conflict communication and resolution strategies and to improve family-work balance embedded in organizational justice strategies.

Integrating an intrahousehold perspective into climate change adaptation research

Many survey-based studies on climate change adaptation behaviours have methodological inadequacies because of the mismatched scale of analysis between individual-level predictors and household-level adaptation behaviours; thus, addressing intrahousehold dynamics in climate change adaptation research is essential. Synthesising the findings of related literature, we identified seven key intrahousehold factors that are likely to influence household adaptation processes: (1) gendered division of labour, (2) disagreements, (3) conflicts and conflict resolution strategies, (4) decision-making stages, (5) types of decision-making, (6) interpersonal influence, and (7) household life cycle. We also specified three intrahousehold factors that are likely to influence household adaptation outcomes: (1) gendered adaptation behaviours, (2) relational adaptation behaviours, and (3) household life cycle and adaptation behaviours. Acknowledging the potential bias of approaching just one representative per household, we then detailed conceptual frameworks and pragmatic advice for applying a household-based approach in climate change adaptation studies. Future research will benefit from clear articulation of the level of analyses and more coherent and viable methodological solutions that involve consideration of intrahousehold dynamics.

Territorial behaviour and conflict management in a semi-social cichlid fish, Neolamprologus caudopunctatus

Abstract Conflict solving strategies can prevent fights from escalating and reduce the costs of aggressive encounters. Having the capacity to efficiently assess an opponent’s fighting abilities before fully committing to a fight is a useful social skill. Here, we conducted two experiments to investigate how a colony living, cichlid species, Neolamprologus caudopunctatus, changes its aggressive behaviour when faced with familiar vs unfamiliar opponents. First, we staged size matched, same-sex, dyadic resource contests and found that fights were always of low-intensity with neither familiarity nor sex influencing how quickly the conflict ended. Second, we explored the dual defence of mated territorial pairs together defending their territory boundaries against other pairs, either familiar or unfamiliar ones, and discovered that fights between two pairs were more vigorous, and that unfamiliar neighbouring pairs were attacked significantly more often than familiar pairs. We also observed that dark bars sometimes appeared on the sides of contestant’s bodies, and that these bars were far more common in winners than in losers, suggesting that these might be visual signals of dominance. However, conflicts where contestants displayed bars were of longer duration than those without. Taken together, our results further advance our understanding of territoriality and conflict resolution strategies and set the stage for future studies focusing on how animals manage to co-exist in closely aggregated breeding territories and to form colonies.

Step Aside! VR-Based Evaluation of Adaptive Robot Conflict Resolution Strategies for Domestic Service Robots

As domestic service robots become more prevalent and act autonomously, conflicts of interest between humans and robots become more likely. Hereby, the robot shall be able to negotiate with humans effectively and appropriately to fulfill its tasks. One promising approach could be the imitation of human conflict resolution behaviour and the use of persuasive requests. The presented study complements previous work by investigating combinations of assertive and polite request elements (appeal, showing benefit, command), which have been found to be effective in HRI. The conflict resolution strategies each contained two types of requests, the order of which was varied to either mimic or contradict human conflict resolution behaviour. The strategies were also adapted to the users’ compliance behaviour. If the participant complied after the first request, no second request was issued. In a virtual reality experiment (N = 57) with two trials, six different strategies were evaluated regarding user compliance, robot acceptance, trust, and fear and compared to a control condition featuring no request elements. The experiment featured a human-robot goal conflict scenario concerning household tasks at home. The results show that in trial 1, strategies reflecting human politeness and conflict resolution norms were more accepted, polite, and trustworthier than strategies entailing a command. No differences were found for trial 2. Overall, compliance rates were comparable to human-human-requests. Compliance rates did not differ between strategies. The contribution is twofold: presenting an experimental paradigm to investigate a human-robot conflict scenario and providing a first step to developing acceptable robot conflict resolution strategies based on human behaviour.

Avoidant Attachment, Withdrawal-Aggression Conflict Pattern, and Relationship Satisfaction: A Mediational Dyadic Model.

This study was conducted with the purpose of analyzing the combined and mediating effect of actor’s withdrawal–partner’s demand conflict resolution strategies between avoidance attachment dimension and relationship satisfaction. We conducted a dyadic study with 175 heterosexual couples (aged between 18 and 72 years) who filled in the questionnaires. Six hypotheses were tested using the actor–partner interdependence model with mediation analysis (APIMeM). Results showed that the avoidance dimension of attachment was more strongly associated with actor’s withdrawal strategy than with demand/aggression strategy. Furthermore, avoidance attachment was negatively associated with both actor’s and partner’s relationship satisfaction, the actor effect being higher. Withdrawal strategy was a mediator between actor’s avoidance and actor’s relationship satisfaction, but it was not a mediator for partner’s relationship satisfaction. The interactive pattern of actor’s withdrawal–partner’s demand/aggression was associated with low levels of both actor’s and partner’s relationship satisfaction. These results point out to the need of discerning the interactive pattern of conflict-solving strategies as well as their intertwined effect on relationship satisfaction.

Abdul, G., A., & Sehar, S. (2015). Conflict management and organizational performance: A case study of Askari Bank Ltd. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting. 6(11), 201. Adhiambo, R., & Simatwa, M. (2011). Assessment of conflict management and resolution in public secondary schools in Kenya: A case study of Nyakach District. International Research Journal 2(4), 1074-1088. Adomi, E., & Anie,

The Constitution of Kenya specifically recognizes the freedom of association to form and belong to trade unions. However, despite the adoption of the Labour Relations Act, union practice is still hampered by excessive restrictions. The EPZ companies are labor intensive requiring a large amount of labor to produce its goods or service and thus, the welfare of the employees play a key role in their functions. This study sought to determine the effect of trade union practices on employees’ welfare at export processing zones industries in Athi River, Kenya. The specific objectives sought to determine the effect of collective bargaining agreements, industrial action, dispute resolution and trade union representation on employees’ welfare at export processing zones industries in Athi River, Kenya. The study employed a descriptive research design. Primary data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire. The target population of the study was employees in EPZ companies in Athi River, Kenya with large employees enrolled in active trade unions. The unit of observation was the employees in the trade unions. The findings indicated that collective bargaining agreements had a positive and significant coefficient with employees’ welfare at the EPZ industries. Industrial action had a positive but non-significant effect with employees’ welfare at Export Processing Zones industries. Dispute resolution had a positive and significant coefficient with employees’ welfare at the EPZ industries. Trade union representation had a positive and significant coefficient with employees’ welfare at the EPZ industries. The study recommended that trade union should avoid the path of confrontation but continue dialogue through the collective bargaining process and demands should be realistic in nature with what is obtainable in the related industry. An existence of a formal two way communication between management and trade unions will ensure that right message is properly understood and on time too. Keywords: Collective Bargaining Agreements, Industrial Action, Dispute Resolution, Trade Union Representation, Employees Welfare & Export Processing Zones

Examining the Prospects of Consociational Power Sharing as a Conflict Resolution Strategy in South Sudan

South Sudan has not escaped the world’s attention even after the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) in September 2018. This agreement brought the main antagonists— President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Dr Riek Machar—to the negotiation table for the twelfth time since the conflict began in 2013. Even with the aura of a shaky peace, the main question is whether the new agreement will stand the test of time in light of the history of the failed implementation of peace agreements. This paper recognises the vital nature of the prevailing peace and examines whether consociational democracy can be propped up during this period of relative peace. The discussion hinges on consociationalism theory that contains a broad array of principles, including power sharing, requisite for consociational democracy. We argue that although South Sudan’s context could favour consociational democracy, there are several barriers characterising Sudan’s social and political spheres that should be alleviated. We elucidate on the barriers and suggest in broad strokes the need for strong independent institutions and vibrant civil society amongst others. We also recognise that overreliance on individuals in resolving the conflict is detrimental to the young nation, and there is a need for a citizen-centred approach that entrenches consociational principles in South Sudan’s political sphere.

PCMCR: A Novel Conflict Resolution Strategy based on Possibility Theory for Human Activity Recognition

DCR is a Distributed Collaborative Reasoning multi-agent model that aims to recognize human activities in smart homes from distributed, heterogeneous and dynamic sensor data. In this model, distributed agents with diverse classifiers, detect sensor stream data, make local predictions, communicate and collaborate to identify current activities. Conflict resolution strategies are applied to generate one final predicted activity when the local predicted activity of an agent is different from received predicted activities of other agents. In this paper, a possibilistic conflict resolution strategy, PCMCR, is proposed. Possibility theory is particularly efficient in combining multiple agents predictions that can be incomplete, uncertain, and conflicting. The PCMCR strategy deals with uncertainty factor which can be presented in the predictions of poor agents. It can take advantage of the complementary information given by each agent, even the weak ones. We experimentally test this strategy by performing an evaluation study on Aruba dataset. The obtained results indicate an enhancement in terms of accuracy, F-measure and G-mean metrics compared to the existing conflict resolution method max-trust of DCR, to the centralized model and to an existing distributed system.

Mindfulness, relationship quality, and conflict resolution strategies used by partners in close relationships.

Mindfulness is a specific state of attention which involves a constant focus on what is happening at the present time in a way that is neither judgmental nor evaluative. The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of mindfulness for relationship quality and conflict resolution strategies in close relationships. Five components of mindfulness were examined: observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreactivity. The study included 153 participants (79 women, 74 men; aged 19-60 years). 39.2% of the respondents were married, 20.9% were engaged, 39.9 were in romantic relationships. The mean duration of the close relationship was 6.25 years. The following measures were used: the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, the Patterns of Problem Solving Questionnaire, and the Dyadic Adaptation Scale. Acting with awareness, dialogue and avoiding conflict escalation strategy were predictors of relationship quality. The relationship status (marriage and engagement) was also a predictor of relationship quality. Gender, age, and duration of the relationship were not predictors of relationship quality. The results showed correlation between mindfulness and relationship quality (r = .28). There was a positive correlation between nonjudging and satisfaction in the relationship and between describing and emotional expression. Also, there was a negative correlation between nonreactivity and compatibility. Mindfulness was positively correlated with dialogue and negatively correlated with escalation of and withdrawal from a conflict. Mindfulness is important to the relationship's quality and conflict resolution strategies. Among the components of mindfulness, especially acting with awareness is important to relationship quality.

New Strategies of Conflict Resolution in Social Work: A Consideration on Buddhist Social Work Approach Based on Sutta Pitaka

Buddhism has long been recognized as a religion of peace and non-violence. In today’s world, various conflicts take place between nations, religions, and ethnic groups. Buddha saw that people can live together freely as individuals, equal in principle, and therefore responsible for each other. Buddha explains that every member of the human family, man and woman alike, has an equal right to liberty. He recognized that each of us is just a human being like everyone else. The Buddha has given this example in his own monasteries. The monks who belonged to different castes were given the opportunity to spend time together in the same monastery, which included holding meetings altogether, irrespective of ethnicity, caste, or religion, walking together in the Pindapātha, and holding Dhamma discussions together in the one Dhamma hall. The objective of this study is to identify Buddha’s teaching on social and ethnic harmony throughout the Buddhist scriptures (Pāli Canon) and consider its application in conflict resolution. Special attention will be paid to the doctrine preached by the Buddha which can be applied to build mutual understanding, relationships, and peace. The study method in this study is historical texts (Sutta Pitaka) content analysis and is carried out using the library survey methodology.

Conflict Resolution Strategy in Handover Management for 4G and 5G Networks

Fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks offer high transmission rates in dense urban environments. However, a massive deployment of small cells will be required to provide wide-area coverage, which leads to an increase in the number of handovers (HOs). Mobility management is an important issue that requires considerable attention in heterogeneous networks, where 5G ultra-dense small cells coexist with current fourth-generation (4G) networks. Although mobility robustness optimization (MRO) and load balancing optimization (LBO) functions have been introduced in the 3GPP standard to address HO problems, non-robust and nonoptimal algorithms for selecting appropriate HO control parameters (HCPs) still exist, and an optimal solution is subjected to compromise between LBO and MRO functions. Thus, HO decision algorithms become inefficient. This paper proposes a conflict resolution technique to address the contradiction between MRO and LBO functions. The proposed technique exploits received signal reference power (RSRP), cell load and user speed to adapt HO margin (HM) and time to trigger (TTT). Estimated HM and TTT depend on a weighting function and HO type which is represented by user status during mobility. The proposed technique is validated with other existing algorithms from the literature. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed technique outperforms existing algorithms overall performance metrics. The proposed technique reduces the overall average HO ping-pong probability, HO failure rate and interruption time by more than 90%, 46% and 58%, respectively, compared with the other schemes overall speed scenarios and simulation time.

Choice of conflict resolution strategies in negative emotional states

The article presents the results of checking the hypothesis that the choice of conflict resolution strategy depends on the negative emotional states (anxiety, frustration, aggression, rigidity). The Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration test, «Anxiety. Frustration. Aggression. Rigidity (AFAR)» test, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) have been used for diagnosis of participants` psychological features. Students of Ukrainian universities have formed the sample. Correlational analysis was performed (SPSS 17.0) to identify the associations between emotional states and behavioral reactions. An association has been established between the state of rigidity and the application of the competing strategy (negative), avoiding (positive); between the state of frustration and the frequency of application of competing (negative), accommodating (positive). The results showed that the possibility of implementing a strategy of avoiding in a state of rigidity is associated with unpreparedness for extrapunitive reaction and expectations that the situation will resolve itself (impaunitive reaction). Therefore, the connections between negative emotional states and the choice of poorly productive conflict resolution strategies may depend on protective mechanisms that are activated in a state of frustration.

General Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Integrating Adaptive Manoeuvre Strategy for Real-Time Multi-Aircraft Conflict Resolution

General Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Integrating Adaptive Manoeuvre Strategy for Real-Time Multi-Aircraft Conflict Resolution

Sumerischer Widerstand gegen semitische Herrschaft Migration, Machtkämpfe und Demographie im 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr.

This study deals with historical and demographic aspects from the early history of Mesopotamia. 1 The history of the immigration of the Semites in the 3rd millennium B.C. is presented from the oldest evidence to the domination of the Akkadian Empire (ca. 2900-2300). Especially the names of persons and places are informative. The integration into the autochthonous Sumerian society seems to have proceeded largely without conflict. 2 After the Semitic dynasty of Akkade had gained dominance for about 150 years around 2300, there are detailed reports about several large uprisings in Sumer. Their backgrounds are analysed. 3 From the detailed data on the high numbers of victims, the question of the consequences for Sumerian society arises. Various methods of historical demography are presented, the results of research are referred to, conclusions on population density are attempted, and strategies for conflict resolution are discussed.

New Value Creation and Family Business Sustainability: Identification of an Intergenerational Conflict Resolution Strategy

New Value Creation and Family Business Sustainability: Identification of an Intergenerational Conflict Resolution Strategy

Multi-vehicle Conflict Management under Time Delays

This paper extends the framework for conflict resolution to multiple vehicles with different automation levels, while considering time delays in vehicle dynamics and in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. Using reachability analysis, we interpret the V2X-based vehicle status information to enable real-time decision making and control of a connected automated vehicle interacting with multiple connected vehicles. We reveal the effects of time delays in such mixed-autonomy environment, and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed conflict resolution strategies using simulations with real highway traffic data.

Организационное управление внутригрупповым поведением на основе конфликтологического анализа деятельности

The article is aimed at solving an important theoretical and experimental problem associated with the search for constructive ways of organizational management of intra-group behaviour based on the official activity analysis. On the ground of ergonomic concepts of purposeful systems, some strategies for eliminating and preventing conflicts are considered based on the materials taken from the domestic and foreign publications. The empirical data obtained on a representative sample of employees related to conflict interactions, status-role positions, and the socio-psychological climate in the team are analyzed. The article outlines further research on organizational management of conflict resolution strategies in official activities