First Reflection

Unquestionably, negotiation occurs almost everyday of my life. Without realizing, I happened to be involved in a process where interested parties resolve disputes while bargaining for individual/group advantage and attempt to craft outcomes. When two people have the similar objective with different mindsets, we tend to compromise the differences. However, conflicts arise if incompatible goals are reached. This happens to me depending on the cooperation and competition situations that occur in generating “creative tension”.

Cooperation Situations

Even when the other party and I have consistent goals, the manner in which the other party tries to reach their goal can still undermine mine. This leads to the fact where individual self-interest may not be reached.

In these types of situations, I start off feeling relaxed and confident that the other party has similar goals as I do. I tend to have a more forward way of thinking given the other party happens to know what my expectations are. In fact, a rush of excitement occurs in me as my opinions can be expressed because the other party understands and/or can react to. My cooperation situations usually take place in group and/or work conflicts.

In cooperation situations, preparation and planning are the most important attributes to resolve my conflicts. When significant data exists, I will have the advantage of evaluating the factual data in order to understand clearly what the main objective is. Since I am more of an analytical individual, this comes more naturally to me given I can think ahead with informative resources at my side. Moreover, understanding the data beforehand can be an advantage when an alternative solution is necessary.

Competitive Situations

In competitive situations where each party has mutually inconsistent goals, both parties try to achieve dominance by outwitting the other. If one party falls, the other wins. My interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts typically arise in competitive situations.

With most of my relationships either with my family or significant other, I tend to feel nervous when conflicts arise. I am anxious in terms of hopefully arriving to a mutual agreement, yet eager to want to succeed in the argument. I want to gain a sense of joy when I know that I am right and the other party is incorrect in their way of thinking.

To resolve these disputes, I try to assess the pros and cons from both sides. I explore the other party’s