In chapter 3, I found that developing a mutual understanding
of another person is an important aspect when trying to resolve conflict.
Having a mutual understanding means to knowledge and try to see the perspective
of the other individual. Their perspective can be their opinion, belief, or
solution to a problem. Acknowledging someone else’s perspective can give you
awareness of a different point of view. However, this does not mean that you
have to agree with the individual. For example, I have a friend who has very
different beliefs than I do. He believes that abortion is a moral sin and
should be illegal. I disagree, and feel that it should be up to the individual
to decide. However, because he is my friend I wanted to know why he thought
this and what his reasons are. I respectfully listened to what he had to say,
and let him know I respect his opinion. As a result, both of us agreed that we
disagree and left it alone.
Hi Miss Leenie,
ReplyDeleteI liked the concept that you choose to talk about. I thinking that developing a mutual understanding of another person is also a great aspect to know when resolving conflict. It’s always good to understand where the other person is coming from, even if you don’t agree with them. Being able to show the other person that you respect their opinion and to listen to it, even if you don’t agree with it is a great thing to do. It shows the other person that you respect them and want to know their perspective on certain things. I liked the example that you used about your friend and your believes on abortion and think it a good example to use with developing a mutual understanding of another persons. Great post!
Leenie,
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you that mutual understanding is an important aspect to resolve conflict. I think that acknowledging the other persons side allows you to be a better communicator, because you become more open to listening to ideas, and maybe more open to others ideas. Another example I thought of, is religion. My boyfriend and I have different religious views, but I listen and support him when he wants to pray, or go to church. I think that being open to his beliefs, allows me to understand him better instead of being closed off and not wanting to hear his ideas. I think this also falls under relationship-centered orientation, because your offering support.
Hi Miss Leenie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post, and I find that we are all already learning so much about communication and conflict. I'm glad you pulled out the idea of mutual understanding because I find it important as well. It's so hard to see the other person's side sometimes, because we always want to defend ourselves and to "win". I don't know about you, but when I step back (even when angry) and try to verbalize the other person's perspective, it can calm me almost instantly and the conflict becomes much more productive instead of destructive. Sometimes we just have to learn to "agree to disagree", walk away from an argument, and maybe come back to it at a later point when the emotions have been taken out of it a bit. All of our conflicts would benefit (hopefully) if we saw both point of views, and not just our own. Thank you for your post!
Hi Miss Leenie!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very inspiring post since I believe a lot of people can benefit from learning that concept in general when it comes to dealing with people who do not share the same beliefs as your own. I feel as though a lot of people whether its school, work, family, or friends such as you mentioned get very caught up in such "politics" and values over certain things and if say that person disagrees with them there is automatic tension between the two people. I admire the way you and your friend handled this situation and agreed to disagree because so many people cannot handle conflict that way and instead choose to think less of the person with the opposing belief I have found in my experiences. What I like to do when someone has an opposite view on something I enjoy letting them elaborate on it because then I get to hear their thoughts on it and in turn I can sometimes gain knowledge that I never knew about. For example I was once debating over the death penalty in a poly sci class and I am for it whereas one of my friends was against it and I let him discuss his feelings and since he was an AJ major I learned how much torture lethal injection can be even though its meant to be painless. By choosing to agree to disagree with someone you can discover facts that you might not have ever thought about in the first place. Great post!