Interplay: The Process Of Interpersonal Communication

Conflict Paper As everybody knows, conflict is something that’s completely inevitable. We all deal with some form of it each day that goes by. This past July I had an encounter with conflict when my older brother failed to pay me back the $400 he owed me. Earlier this year I let him borrow that money so he could purchase a new phone and we both agreed he would pay me back last month, but that did not happen. I was frustrated because I was counting on the $400 to buy myself a new laptop. In the book Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal Communication the authors mention that, “Disconfirming communication signals a lack of regard” (Adler, Rosenfeld, & Proctor, 2012, p. 339). In the conversation I had with my brother shortly after he informed me that he wouldn’t be able to pay me back I used this type of communication because I remember telling him “I really don’t like you at all.” I told him this in the heat of the moment because deep inside I know I love him dearly. Before I even gave my brother the chance to explain why he wasn’t going to be able to pay me back I walked away from him and we didn’t talk for days which was unusual in our relationship. This type of conflict style which we were taking part in is known as “Avoidance” which happens “When people ignore or stay away …show more content…
Avoiders usually believe it’s easier to put up with the status quo than to face the problem head-on and try to solve it” (Adler et al., 2012, p. 372) In my communications class I learned that this type of conflict style is a lose-lose situation, and now I understand why because I felt bummed and I’m