Intentions

Decisions to act in a given way

Inferred (often erroneous) intentions may cause greater conflict

Five conflict handling intentions:

Competing

Collaborating

Avoiding

Accommodating

Compromising

Stage III starts to look at the intentions of the individuals involved. These intentions include the determination to act in a certain way, but it is important to realize behavior does not always accurately reflect intention. Sometimes people act out of emotion and not rational thinking.

Using two dimensions – cooperativeness (the degree to which one party attempts to satisfy the other party’s concerns) and assertiveness (the degree to which one party attempts to satisfy her own concerns) – we can identify five conflict handling intentions: competing (assertive and uncooperative); collaborating (assertive and cooperative); avoiding (unassertive and uncooperative); accommodating (unassertive and cooperative); and compromising (midrange on both assertiveness and cooperativeness).