The world of science and academic research is predicated on the idea that solutions to problems can best be found through a rational analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of available options. The problem is that much of conflict behavior is subconscious, subjective and hard to influence through rational argument. Rather, people react based on conscious and unconscious emotions, such as distrust, fear, anger, and humiliation. We need to better understand these thought processes and how they effect conflict behavior; more importantly, we need to learn how to address those motivations in a way that harnesses their energy for constructive, rather than destructive, ends.

This is getting to be an increasingly popular area for research; thus, knowledge is growing in this area. Articles we have on this topic include the following:

Knowledge

Availability

Medium

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Low

• Limits of Rationality - Negotiation theory often assumes that people in conflict behave rationally, making their decisions on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis. While rational assessment is sometimes one part of the disputants' decision making rubric, other factors usually play a significant role as well, often overriding what would be seen to be the "rational" response.
• Emotions = Negotiation theory often assumes that people in conflict behave rationally, but emotional factors also play a large role in people's attitudes and behaviors. This essay examines the importance of these emotional factors in both conflict assessment and response.
• Anger - Anger can be constructive, but is more often destructive. This essay examines the interplay between anger and conflict and discusses when and how anger should be managed.
• Fear - Fear is both a cause and a consequence of violent and some nonviolent conflicts. It certainly makes conflict resolution more difficult.
• Distrust - Distrust can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy, where every move another person makes is interpreted as evidence to distrust him/her. When the other person reciprocates this sentiment, there is mutual distrust that further fuels the escalation of conflict.
• Guilt and Shame - We feel guilty for what we do. We feel shame for what we are. Both lead to and are caused by conflict.
• Humiliation - Humiliation is reducing to lowliness or submission. It is theorized to be a major cause of violent and intractable conflicts. The humiliation of the German people after World War I, for example, is frequently seen as a cause of World War II.
• Face - From the correspondence between Kennedy and Khrushchev during the Cuban missile crisis, it is clear that they were trying to end the conflict while retaining their honor or "saving face." Understanding the concept of face is vital to resolving intractable conflict.
• Drama in Conflict Resolution - The dominant "western" culture has typically considered knowledge in terms of scientific facts ("positivism") and has communicated education in hierarchical (top-down), synchronic (the learners synchronized with the teachers), and authoritarian/prescriptive ways. Using drama as a way to express and deal with conflicts is a very different approach that has value both in "western" culture, but especially in other cultures that do not resonate with the Western postivist approach to knowledge and learning.

Book Summaries:

• Bridging Troubled Waters: Conflict Resolution from the Heart
  Michelle LeBaron
  Rational analysis alone cannot resolve intractable conflicts — emotions are involved too. Using techniques such as stories and metaphor, LeBaron illustrates the relational nature of conflict, as well as the creativity necessary to resolve it.
• Building Peace
  John Paul Lederach
  This book is not new, but it is still a classic, and very much worth reading for those who have not. Covering similar ground to LeBaron's book, but in a different way, Lederach focuses on the reconciliation of relationships as the key to peacebuilding. Especially important, Lederach argues are "middlemen" who can build relationships not only between groups, but between levels (grassroots, middle, and elite) of their own group. Peacebuilding must progress on all levels of society together, and it is these middlemen and women who can help bring this about, thereby stimulating conflict transformation.
• Revitalizing Political Psychology: The Legacy of Harold D. Lasswell
  William Ascher and Barbara Hirshfelder-Ascher
  The basic principals of Lasswell’s work are introduced including the displacement hypothesis, the triple appeal principal and the self-system. Such concepts help us to understand the psychodynamic roots of seemingly illogical actions and direct our attention to the underlying cause of such action.
• Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding
  According to the author, ritual and symbols are important (though often ignored) tools for the contemporary peacebuilder. Rituals involve symbolic communication in a unique social space, and have the ability to transcend identities and worldviews. As such, ritual is a useful tool in the transformation of conflicts that are based on cultural differences.
• The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation
  R. Scott Appleby
  While some religious actors choose a path of violence, many more have developed peace-related practices and concepts. Appleby examines why this may be, and to what extent "nonviolent religious militants" can contribute to peacebuilding.

Other Resources of Interest:

• Narratives and Storytelling
  Stories have been vital to all cultures throughout history. Recently, they have been purposefully employed as tools to promote empathy between adversaries and to help people heal from past trauma.
• Special Affinities and Conflict Resolution: West African Social Institutions and Mediation
  This essay describes a particular kind of interpersonal relationship common in West Africa called "joking kinship." This relationship has importance for conflict resolution and transformation in that region and has further implications for the way trainers and intervenors work in cultures different from the ones they are familiar with.
• Fisher, Erik and Steven Sharp. The Art of Managing Everyday Conflict: Understanding Emotions and Power Struggles. Edited by Fisher, Erik and Steven Sharp, eds. Westport, CT: Praegar Publishers, April 30, 2004.
  Publisher's Description
• Fisher, Roger and Daniel Shapiro. Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as you Negotiate. New York: Penguin Group, 2005.
  Publisher's Description
• Irani, George E. and Nathan C. Funk. "Rituals of Reconciliation: Arab-Islamic Perspectives." In Arab Studies Quarterly, (20:4, 1998).
  Consortium Article Abstract
• Jameson, Jessica Katz, Andrea M. Bodtker, and Tricia S. Jones. "Like Talking to a Brick Wall: Implications of Emotion Metaphors for Mediation Practice." In Negotiation Journal, (22: 2, 2006).
  Publisher's Description
• Jones, Tricia S. and Andrea Bodtker, "Mediating with Heart in Mind: Addressing Emotion in Mediation Practice." In Negotiation Journal, (17:3, 2001), pp. 217-244.
  Consortium Article Abstract
• Jones, Wendell and Scott Hughes. "Complexity, Conflict Resolution, and How the Mind Works." In Conflict Resolution Quarterly, (20:4, 2003).
  Publisher's Description
• Ladd, Peter. Mediation, Conciliation, and Emotions : A Practitioner's Guide for Understanding Emotions in Dispute Resolution. Maryland: University Press of America, 2005.
  Publisher's Description
• LeBaron, Michelle. Bridging Troubled Waters: Conflict Resolution From The Heart. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002.
  Consortium Abstract
• LeBaron, Michelle and Nike Carstarphen. "Negotiating Intractable Conflict: The Common Ground Dialogue Process and Abortion." In Negotiation Journal, 13:4 (October 1997), pp. 341-361.
  Publisher's Description
• Lederach, John Paul. The Moral Imagination: The Art And Soul Of Building Peace. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
  Consortium Abstract
• Lederach, John Paul. "The "Wow Factor" and a Non-Theory of Change." In Positive Approaches to Peacebuilding: A Resource for Innovators. Edited by Liebler, Claudia, ed. et al. Washington DC: Pact Publications, 2003.
  Consortium Article Abstract
• Obeidi, Amer, Keith Hipel, and D. Marc Kilgour. "Emotion: The Missing Ingredient in Conflict Analysis." In Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. (vol. 4: 2003), pp. 3322-3329.
  Author's Description
• Retzinger, S., and Scheff, T. "Emotion, Alienation, and Narratives: Resolving Intractable Conflict." Mediation Quarterly, 2000. 18 (12).
  http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/faculty/scheff/16.html
  Author's Description
• Schirch, L. Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding. Bloomfield, Connecticut: Kumarian Press, 2005.
  Publisher's Description
• Shapiro, Daniel. "Negotiating Emotions." Conflict Resolution Quarterly 20:1, 2002.
  Consortium Article Abstract
• Gephart, R.P., Steier, L. & Lawrence, T. (1990)." Cultural rationalities in crisis sensemaking: A study of a public inquiry into a major industrial accident." In Industrial Crisis Quarterly, 4, 27-48.
  Author's Description
• Creating a Sacred Space: Cuban Reconciliation and the Catholic Church
  Sarah Park
  This essay examines the role of the Roman Catholic Church in fostering reconciliation between Cuban refugees now living in the U.S. and Cuban citizens still living in Cuba. Though hostilities between these two groups used to be strong, the church is making considerable progress in bringing families and larger communities together.
• Limits rationality
  Conflict Publishers | Conflict News | Google Scholar
• Ritual symbol conflict
  Conflict Publishers | Conflict News | Google Scholar
• Religion violence reconciliation
  Conflict Publishers | Conflict News | Google Scholar

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• Building rational peace
  Conflict Publishers | Conflict News | Google Scholar