Psychological typology of conflict relationships in the organization: the gender aspect

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Psychological typology of conflict relationships in the organization: the gender aspect

Losiyevska O. G.

The article is devoted to the study of typologies of conflict situations in the organization with the disclosure of the impact of gender policy on a successful performance in the field of education. Certain types ofpersonalities, which, according to the theory of gender identity, suit better for the role of governance and for the ability to bring the conflict to a constructive level.

Key words: gender identity, gender conflict, leader, organization, professional relations.

conflict organization gender

Formualationof the problem. From time to time different conflicts may appear in any professional organization. Sometimes people who work together in a business environment may have conflicts based on the division of responsibilities, individual ambitiousness, a competition occurring when people strive to get well-paid job opportunities, participation in power structures, etc. In a contemporary context, harmonious gender relationships are becoming an important factor in a social process. They are also becoming a condition under which the public peace would be supported. Nowadays we face the problem of gender stereotypes that lead to the gender-based conflicts appearing in various areas of society, including organizations.

A conflict is the most important part of people's interactions in a society; it is somewhat a cell of social existence. It is a form of relationship that arises between potential or actual subjects of social action, and which is based on competing values (norms, interests, and needs).

A gender conflict is a contradiction (collision) between normative perceptions of a personality, men's and women's behavior patterns, and the person's inability or unwillingness to correspond to these perceptions or requirements. Conflict contradictions of opposite genders arise between their traditional and contextual roles, defined by the society.

Such psychologists as S. Bem, J. Gray, P. Costa, G. McCrae , G. Fisher, and D. Shapiro were the first to study the relationship between men and women. All these studies are connected with the idea of the way opposite sexes are perceived: men are supposed to be strong and independent whereas women are supposed to be dependent, kind, and weak. That is the reason this gender aspect influences conflict relationship formation in an organization.

Analysis of recent researches and publications. A careful attention is drawn to the issue of conflict interactions which are presented in studies of both Ukrainian (A. Antsupov, V. Afon'kova, N. Grishina, A. Dontsov, S. Emelianov, A. Ershov, A. Zdravomislov, O. Litvinova, L. Petrovska, T. Sulimova, etc) and foreign (I. Adizes, C. Bolding, R. Dahrendorf, N. Deutsch, L. Coser, K. Lewin, G. Simmel) psychologists.

In the 20th century, gender studies in social sciences received a boost. Such psychologists as S. Bem, S. de Beauvoir, Sh. Ortner, G. Rabine, A. Rich, and R. Wiger studied the disparity of men's and women's social roles based on social, cultural, and psychological factors.

In their scientific studies, N. Grishina. and A. Naumov enlisted the main reasons why such conflicts may arise, while A. Naumov and A. Shipilov in their works described the evolution and the structural components of conflicts. The conflict resolution strategies and methods were analyzed in works of Ralph Killman and Kenneth Thomas. However, the way the gender factors influence men's and women's patterns of behavior has not been found yet.

The purpose of the article: to define the typology of conflict relationships based on gender differentiation in an organization.

Presentation of the basic materials and research results. An organization is the main focus in the social structure of modern society. In a team, conflicts are the clash of opposing views which are referred to the personalities, social groups, and the team itself. That is why it would be better to say that it is normal that various conflicts appear in a working environment. In recent years, the interest of psychologists on the problem of conflicts has increased. There are a lot of opinions on how the concept of “conflict” should be understood. That is why the scientists are prompted to find their own understanding of this phenomenon.

For instance, A. Antsupov and A. Shipilov state that a conflict is the most powerful and destructive way to develop and end the contradictions that arise in the process of social interaction. The researchers also say that conflicts are shown in the fight of personality's substructures.

Vashchenko and S. Prenko argue that the conflict is a manifestation of interests' inconsistency. It is a disagreement between two or more parties (individuals or groups), in which every party tries to make his or her position clear or tries to keep the other party from doing the same [6].

A special emphasis in conflict relations is laid on the gender aspect. The gender conflict reflects the contradiction between the substructures of the individual: “Me” as an individual - “Me” as a gender group representative. Any gender conflict is based on sex-role differentiation that exists in any society. At all levels of the social reality functioning, gender conflicts are based on the differentiation of gender roles.

Gender differentiation is a process in which the biological differences between men and women are socially valued and used as means of social classification.

According to I. Kletsina, a gender conflict is the result of interpersonal interactions or the aggregate of individual's feelings that might be the result of a contradictory attitude to gender values, roles, and relationships that lead to the contradiction between goals and interests. For some reasons, the emergence of intrapersonal, interpersonal and intergroup conflicts between men and women depends on patterns of their behavior [9].

According to O. Voronina, gender conflicts are born in the information models that take place in the psyche of the participants. Men and women perceive the statements and behavior of each other in different ways. You can even say that a lot of messages are misinterpreted, which can lead to conflict situations. For example, in case of a trouble, women try to get compassion without expecting any action in response to their claims and complaints. Men in such situation consider themselves obliged to do something. Women can talk about the minutest details when exchanging information, which shows that they want to become closer with the interlocutor. A man, in a situation of information exchange, does not seek to go into details and tries not to pay attention to trifles [6].

Gender conflict in the organization can lead to irreversible consequences such as stoppage of work or abandonment of work for gender reasons.

A. Shirokova points out that “the main reason for the gender conflict is the contradiction between documented ideas about the personal characteristics of men and women, the peculiarities of their behavior and the inability or lack of desire of the individual or group of individuals to meet these requirements” [12].

M. Slasher and M. Anderson state that the views formed on the basis of stereotypes can lead to the incorrect association of groups with their stereotypical features. In other words, people may sometimes have stereotypes that force them to adjust their perception of the members of the identified social group according to these stereotypes, which can also lead to the gender conflicts formation [10].

The following types of gender intrapersonal conflicts are distinguished:

The conflict of fear of success. The phenomenon of success avoiding motivation was discovered by M. Horner, whose studies have shown that men associate their success in professional activities with positive emotions, while most women - with negative. According to the author, women are not anxious about the professional success itself, but about its possible consequences.

M. Horner thought that fear of success is a characteristic that only women have. However, the motivational hypothesis states that fear of success is a netropsin characteristic, which goes along with a state-value hypothesis, which indicates that the sociocultural environment and state-value stereotypes are of the paramount importance when it comes to the formation of success avoiding motivation. The latter hypothesis is supported by the fact that the fear of success is manifested only in non-traditional areas of activity for women [3].

Numerous works are devoted to the study of this phenomenon for women. But at the same time, the problem of success avoiding motivation in non-traditional activities for men remains poorly studied.

An existential and gender conflict

The existential crisis is an example of intrapersonal conflict based on gender perceptions of the different values and on an importance of professional and family roles of men and women. This situation touches upon the basis of human existence, turning it to the problem of relations with the world and to the search for the meaning of life. The conflict is associated with the re-evaluation of “meaningful” orientations; it affects the most important, vital values, and needs of a person, becomes the dominant of the person's inner life, and is accompanied by strong emotional experiences [4].

Both men and women can experience existential and gender conflicts. Their life orientations are based on the traditional sexual roles' performance. In other words, a woman thinks that making a family and upbringing of children is the main meaning of her life whereas a man believes that the professional success is more important.

For example, men who think their career is the most important thing in their lives, find themselves in a situation of existential conflict when they lose their job or retire. The “shock of resignation” is associated with the loss of a significant place in society, the break in ties with the reference group. The loss of a significant social role is displayed as “the loss of the main meaning of life”, and on the emotional level is marked by all the signs of acute stress disorder.

The phenomenon, which in the social psychological literature is described as a “role conflict of a working woman” can be the most striking example of the contradiction between traditional regulatory requirements for the role-playing behavior of women and the real situation of her life [3]. This role conflict, i.e. a social situation in which the same individual is expected to perform incompatible role-playing activities, arises when a woman simultaneously performs three of her main roles (marital, parental, professional).

Since women simply do not have enough physical resources to fully perform these roles, such role intrapersonal conflicts may occasionally appear.

The degree of severity of the role conflict is associated with the psychological state of a woman. The high expressiveness of the article qualities (masculinity and femininity) helps a woman to successfully adapt to various spheres of life and experience a smaller role conflict. High androgyny is associated with low role conflict. The woman's choice of the prior sphere of realization (career or family) and personal evaluation of such life situation helps to reduce the role conflict [8].

Based on the fact of the presence of different management roles, we can conclude that most of the problems can be solved by only one manager. Therefore, to solve problems, you need to have a team that is able to develop and implement only one solution. And to develop this solution, the team must be mutually reinforcing. To achieve the team's PAEI ( “P” - production results, ”A” - administration, ”E” - entrepreneurship, “I” - integration), different managers of different styles should work together. Based on this knowledge, Adizes identifies four types of leaders:

Producer - Paei;

Administrator - pAei;

Entrepreneur - paEi;

Integrator - paeI.

A producer thinks about the result; the satisfaction of the customers' needs can become a meaning of a producer's life. And when there are more and more of needs, a producer will have to provide them with the high-quality products or services.

An administrator is aimed at optimizing and minimizing the use of resources. The existence of these two types of managers can ensure the successful functioning of the organization. However, they will not be able to be engaged in its development or adaptation to changing circumstances in the business environment.

An entrepreneur is a creative manager who is able to come up with interesting ideas and successfully implement them in life; he always has a lot of plans and ideas.

An integrator is not just a manager, but a leader who is able to make new common traditions, values, and the corporate culture of the organization. The integrator also thinks about strategies used for the future development of the organization [1].

Taking this into account, we can conclude that in the management, the appearance of conflicts based on management styles and management roles, is inevitable. And to make a decision it is necessary to have a team with “PAEI” (authority, power, influence, and integration). Therefore, if there is a conflict, it means that the team is able to come up with a solution that fixes or significantly improves the problem.

Men and women who hold managerial positions have the same motivation for success; they are equally inclined to control the strict performance of subordinates' duties and to take measures when it is necessary. However, men are mostly focused on the dominant influence, while women prefer a softer style of management. There are two main positions when considering these issues. Supporters of the first position believe in the existence of a special “female” management style, which is much different from the “male” style. This point of view is supported by J. Rosner, G. Isler, and E. Crittenden at the same time, S. Epstein does not believe that such specificity exists [3].

Considering the theory of “PAEI”, we can say that the division into four types of leaders also depends on gender identities.

Meaningful components of gender identity are revealed through the concepts of “masculinity” and “femininity”. Masculinity and femininity are normative representations of the somatic and behavioral characteristics of men and women. This is an element of sexual symbolism, which is associated with the differentiation of sexual roles [10].

In the psychological literature, in addition to the bipolar and multipolar models of psychological gender, the androgenic model of gender identity is also mentioned. Androgyny is a key notion of the eponymous concept that was developed by Sandra Bem, the psychologist who introduced the concept in 1975. Androgyny is used to describe people who successfully combine both masculine and feminine psychological qualities.

During the research, it was found out that the person, who is considered to be masculine due to the only one indicator, can be considered to be feminine for others. On this basis, S. Bem started considering masculinity and femininity as independent qualities of a person rather than alternatives to the same continuum.

According to this concept, feminine characteristics may be present in the masculine identity of men, and in the same way, masculine characteristics may be present in feminine identities. At first, Sandra Bem identified three categories of respondents: masculine, feminine and androgynous. However, under the influence of J. Spence group, she agreed that it would be more appropriate to identify people who were undifferentiated in terms of masculinity and femininity.

Based on analytical reasoning within the framework of the androgenic model and its empirical testing with BSRI questionnaire (Bem Sex Role Inventory), we may speak about four structures of psychological gender (four types of identity for men, and four for women): masculine, feminine, androgynous, and undifferentiated [10].

The social behavior of the androgen personality is considered to be more adaptive than the behavior of masculine men or feminine women. Androgynous people have a richer behavioral repertoire, which allows them to better cope with different activities and change the patterns of behavior depending on the requirements of the situation.

Therefore, combining the I. Adizes theory with the theory of gender identity, we can say that the four functions of “PAEI”, which are highlighted by the scientist, are closely related to androgyny. To successfully perform the functions of production results, administration, entrepreneurship, and integration, there should be plasticity in behavior, easy adaptability and multitasking. An androgynous personality possesses all these qualities.

Conclusions and prospects for further research

So, according to the theory of gender identity, androgynous personalities might be better managers and leaders due to their ability to quickly adapt to any situation and to understand the masculine and feminine behaviors. It is them who should lead the team in the organization since they would better manage conflicts in the team, turning them to the positive sides, and looking for the prospect of organizational development.

The prospects for further research are to study the issue of the way androgynous individuals can hold management positions in the organization. We have found out that such people can be more successful in conflict-solving and may nurture the development of the organization and professional relations.

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