Scandal is a television program that is viewed by many people as addictive. One of the things that make it seems so is the combustible blend of both fantasy and reality. However, this television program shows a great variety of interpersonal conflict that happens in the television scenes. Conflicts are bound to occur in the interpersonal relationship. However, the most important key element is that the conflict is resolved effectively without any discrepancies. In some of the television programs that we see, we often see conflicts arise from the characters in the program. In most cases we often start thinking of the other possible ways in which the same conflict would have been addressed.’ In some cases, tolerance and better listening skills can come in handy when resolving some conflicts. As I watched an episode of Scandal, I pointed out certain cases where conflicts were evident, and I also tried to show how better they could have been solved.
Conflicts often occur between people despite how close they could be to each other. Conflicts at some point are considered constructive and healthy because they help to point out the flaws in a relationship which makes it better for individuals to come to good times with each other once the conflict is resolved. Conflicts often pose a great challenge on how they are handled because the result of the relationship depends on how the conflict resolution goes.
Conflict can best be resolved by individuals using certain key features of conflict resolution such as good listening skills cooperation and at the best case apologizing whenever necessary. For instance, two individuals were arguing about how they both wanted to keep a secret from each other. A secret which was big enough to keep him from prison but at the same time would ruin his reputation when it came out. When the argument was heated, the man ended up moving out and they I believe that this could have been made simpler and solved differently without making the guy walk way. First of all the second individual should have embraced empathy. If the individual could have gotten into the other one’s shoes, she would have understood why he never wanted to let her know about it. She should have thought for a moment about the effect of the argument on the man. Then they could have come up with a viable solution that would have compromised the situation and understood the main reason he did not want him to know about the secret. In a relationship, empathy is important because it helps the individuals to get to know and have a taste of their partners’’ shoes. At this point, they are sure of managing their conflicts and practicing empathy will help greatly in managing conflicts effectively (Burrell, 2014).
Listening skills were also inadequate and poor. In a relationship, listening skills can be the best way to express and communicate controversial issues with the other person. The most important way to display good listening skills is when a person maintains eye contact. This assures the person you are talking to that you are listening. Concerning this conflict, the man should also have stopped for a second and listen to what she had to say about the topic of controversy. Instead, he just walked away without listening to what she had to say about the topic. He should have stopped and listened to her opinion instead of jumping to conclusions.
Conflicts will always occur in interpersonal relationships; it is only important that we know how to handle them when they do come. Conflict management is crucial in any relationship to ensure that everyone is at peace.
- Burrell, N. (2014). Managing interpersonal conflict: Advances through meta-analysis.
