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A hidden issue is whether the more de‐escalatory behavior of cooperatively‐motivated compared to competitively‐motivated conflict parties is the result of less concern for one's own goals, more concern for the other's goals, or both. A scenario study and a simulation experiment among undergraduate students confirmed the hypothesis that the difference in other‐concern is the critical explanator. The stronger other‐concern of cooperatively‐motivated compared to competitively motivated parties fostered more accommodating, more problem solving, more compromising, and less forcing, resulting in more de‐escalation or less escalation.

The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast two formal models of escalation and de-escalation: the attractor landscape model and the S-shaped reaction function model. Also, the paper aims to enumerate conditions that affect the shape and location of reaction functions and, hence, the stability of less and more escalated states.

Both models are presented together with geometric proofs of the main assertions of the second model. Overlap and comparative strengths of the models are reviewed. Parts of the social science literature are synthesized in a discussion of the antecedents of stability.

Though derived from totally different traditions, these models are similar in their basic assumptions and predictions. Each model has value. The attractor landscape model is easier to grasp and contains a concept of resistance to escalation that is not found in the S-shaped reaction function model. The latter model looks at individual parties rather than the dyad as a whole and, thus, offers an explanation for most of the phenomena described by the former model. It also allows identification of many variables that affect the shape and location of reaction functions and, hence, can be viewed as antecedents of escalation and de-escalation.

Seven testable hypotheses are presented in the Conclusions section. Laboratory tasks for testing such hypotheses have yet to be developed and there is only one study employing real-life measures. However, it is clear that once research on these phenomena really begins, new variables will be found that moderate the strength of the effects hypothesized.

The models provide concepts for thinking about how to avoid runaway escalation and promote runaway de-escalation. The variables mentioned in the hypotheses suggest ways to diminish the likelihood of runaway escalation and can also be used for constructing measures of the likelihood of that phenomenon. The theories also imply that when the likelihood of runaway escalation increases, disputants should be doubly careful to avoid initiating escalative behavior.

The article is original in that the S-shaped reaction function model is refined and further developed and the proofs are new. The comparison between the models is also new, as is most of the enumeration of conditions affecting the stability of low and high escalation. The value of the article is to provide concepts and theory for thinking about escalation and de-escalation, and testable hypotheses for studying these phenomena.

A simulated price war between two competing gas stations provided the context to assess the effects on de‐escalation of the subject's financial shortage, the competitor's financial shortage, and a message from the competitor conveying a non‐exploitative intent. Subject shortages encouraged gasoline price increases (de‐escalation) and competitor shortages encouraged price decreases (escalation). Subjects who were suffering a financial shortage rated their competitor as less likely to cooperate and more likely to exploit them than those who were not. Results were discussed in terms of a simplification of Pruitt and Kimmel's (1977) goal‐expectation hypothesis. One possible explanation for our results is that subjects make a comparison of relative strength before choosing either to de‐escalate or escalate.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that conflict management styles play in the relationship between interpersonal conflict and workplace bullying.

A survey study was conducted among 761 employees from different organizations in Spain.

Results suggest that an escalation of the conflict process from task related to relationship conflict may explain bullying situations to some extent. Regarding conflict management, attempts to actively manage conflict through problem solving may prevent it escalating to higher emotional levels (relationship conflict) and bullying situations; in contrast, other conflict management strategies seem to foster conflict escalation.

The correlational design makes the conclusions on causality questionable, and future research should examine the dynamic conflict process in more detail. On the other hand, to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study empirically differentiating interpersonal conflict and workplace bullying.

This study explores how conflict management can prevent conflict escalating into workplace bullying, which has important implications for occupational health practitioners and managers.

Traditionally, conflict theory and research has focused almost exclusively on verbal behavior to understand strategic processes. Research on various nonverbal cues in conflict interaction is limited to investigations of narrowly defined variable sets and/or atheoretic descriptions of nonverbal behaviors, with little attention to the underlying reasons for the behavioral choices made by disputants. This paper proposes an attribution‐based model of conflict escalation as a consequence of non‐verbal status displays. The lack of research on the role of nonverbal communication in conflict escalation and the limitations of current models of nonverbal immediacy exchange are cited as a justification for the proposed model. Implications of the model are summarized in the form of several propositions.

The last decades, neighborhood mediation programs have become an increasingly popular method to deal with conflicts between neighbors. In the current paper the aim is to propose and show that conflict asymmetry, the degree to which parties differ in perceptions of the level of conflict, may be important for the course and outcomes of neighborhood mediation.

Data for testing the hypotheses were based on coding all (261) files of neighbor conflicts reported to a Dutch neighborhood mediation program in the period from 2006 through 2008.

As expected, cases were more often about asymmetrical than symmetrical conflicts. Moreover, compared to symmetrical conflicts, asymmetrical conflicts less often led to a mediation session; the degree of escalation was lower; and, particularly in asymmetrical conflicts, a mere intake session already contributed to positive conflict outcomes.

Past research on the effectiveness of mediation programs mainly focused on cases in which a mediation session effectively took place. However, persuading parties to participate in a mediation session forms a major challenge for mediators. In fact, many cases that are signed‐up for mediation programs do not result in an actual mediation. The current study examines the entire mediation process – from intake to follow‐up.

This paper aims to seek to and understand how civil conflict and international claims inform one another. Does the existence of ongoing civil and international conflicts affect how a government addresses an international claim? The paper builds on existing literature that link international and domestic conflict. However, it suggests that the logic behind civil conflicts may be different from that for international ones as states decide how to deal with any one claim.

The paper posits that states faced with domestic conflicts and additional international claims are more likely to seek to resolve an international claim than those without similar conflicts. It develops a series of hypotheses about the likelihood of claim escalation and peaceful settlement attempts and proceed to test them quantitatively using the Issue Correlates of War data combined with the uppsala conflict data program/peace research institute oslo Armed Conflict Data.

On the one hand, the paper finds support for the argument regarding the difficulty states are faced with when seeking to resolve multiple international claims. On the other hand, it finds that the presence of civil conflicts incentivizes states to resolve international claims either by force or peacefully, suggesting internal violence can both lead to diversionary behavior and attempts at conflict resolution.

The findings have important implications for work considering the complexity of domestic and international conflict linkages.

While many studies of claim militarization and peaceful attempts focus on dyadic and international characteristics, this paper creates a more nuanced understanding of the complexities of this foreign policy decision process.

This study aims to develop an influence perspective for managerial intervention in subordinates conflicts, which helps to represent various strategies identified in the literature in a single model. Managers' power base was then related to their intervention strategies. Drawing upon Social Judgment Theory, anchoring of subordinates positions is studied as a moderating variable.

Thirty nine supervisors and their 165 subordinates from several organizations in Turkey filled out a questionnaire reporting power base of supervisor and their intervention strategy utilizing the critical incident technique.

Referent power of superior led to mediation in subordinates' conflicts. However, mediation decreased while restructuring, arbitration, and educative strategies increased with increased anchoring of subordinates' positions. These latter strategies mostly relied on reward power of manager. Subordinate satisfaction was highest with mediation and lowest when supervisors distanced themselves from the conflict.

The present study could only test the moderating effect of escalation as an anchoring variable. Future studies may look at the anchoring effect of whether the dispute is handled in public or in private, and whether the parties have a competing versus collaborative or compromising styles.

Training of managers in mediation may be essential in cultures where they play a focal role in handling subordinates conflicts. Such training may have to take into account their broader influence strategies and use of power.

An influence perspective is useful in integrating the vast array of managerial intervention strategies in the literature. Furthermore, the anchoring effect provides a theoretical explanation for managers' use of more forceful intervention with less cooperative subordinates.

Develop an integrated model to analyze conflicts at work and apply it to a case study. The core of the conceptual model is constituted by the interpersonal relationships modalities using the Palo Alto school theorization (symmetrical and complementary relations framework in people's relative positioning). This model also articulates inside this interpersonal relationships structure five other dimensions: Perception processes, Life dynamics, Habitus from Bourdieu and developed by Lahire, psychosociological processes and sociological factors (including cultural ones). We apply this model to the case study of a Community center in a French city where a serious conflict happens with the final consequence of the closure of the center.

In-depth case study by long conversations (more than interviews) with the main protagonists of the Community center and of the conflict. These talks have been completed by secondary sources and extended review of newspaper articles.

Our model revels to be pertinent to enlighten the multiple dimensions of the conflict. In particular, we show that the dynamics of interpersonal relationships is central in the conflict development and is embedded in multiple psychosociological processes (perceptions processes with deep perceptive divergences between people, personal construction of Social Identity by protagonists, group thinking, active minority construction, etc.). The sociological factors, as well of personal habitus, have an effect but are not determinants of people's behavior. People are partially conscious of the occurring phenomena but cannot be considered as omniscient, purely strategic actors.

1-Application of the conceptual model is applied only on one case study. 2-More attention should be given to prospective dimension of stories and storying (antenarrative).

The case analysis based on our reactional model of conflicts leads to point out several mistakes in the management of the considered organization and more precisely in the management of the conflictual relationships. Change of level 2 has been misconducted by the top manager of the Community center and we show which alternative decisions could have been made in order to avoid the burst of the conflict. More general conflict management methods can be deduced from our analysis.

Articulation of these different concepts in an integrated model has never been previously made neither applied in a case study.

The purpose of this paper is to present an innovative study with a twofold focus: on highly escalated family business (FB) conflicts and on the interactions between conflicts and the failure of the company as FB. The authors devoted this paper to the question of how family-related conflicts are connected with the demise of FB. Conflicts constitute an essential part of every FB and may definitely have the power to superimpose the performance of the FB as well as the family life in a destructive way. Especially, highly escalated so called relationship conflicts can be seen as one reason for the failure of FB.

The research aims at analysing the meaning of conflict in FB with respect to the failure of the FB. Therefore, the authors use an explorative case study approach. The study is based on a total of five case studies. As the authors use theory of social systems as a theoretical background, the authors focused in the analysis in all cases on patterns rather than on individual characteristics.

As an essential part of the study the authors formulated eight hypotheses describing specific patterns of the conflict process as a communicative system. These hypotheses convey a comprehensible impression of the effects conflicts may have within FB and present a number of new facets of conflict dynamics and patterns of escalation in FB.

In particular, the authors provide new insights into the dynamics of highly destructive forms of conflicts in FB and the relationship between family-related conflicts and the failure of FB. The authors also pave the way for future research that aim to develop a more holistic understanding about when and why the outcomes from family and business systems will conflict or be harmonious.