| The ability to resolve conflict effectively is a necessary quality for counselors, and an important therapeutic tool. However, this ability is not inherent. Counselors who possess strong conflict resolution skills likely perceive events very differently than counselors who have difficulty with conflict. Further, the differences in perceptions, which are comprised of both cognitive and affective factors, may be rooted in one's susceptibility to the contagious quality of another's emotions, known as "emotional contagion." In other words, emotional contagion may affect cognitive appraisals and the emotional experience, which in turn affect one's ability to effectively resolve conflict.;For this study, 124 master's, specialist, and doctoral level counseling and psychology students from a large university in the Southeastern United States were assessed in order to identify and explain differences in cognitive appraisals, emotional experience, and susceptibility to emotional contagion between resolved conflicts and unresolved conflicts. Cognitive appraisals were measured using a modified version of a cognitive appraisal instrument (Roseman, Antoniou, & Jose, 1996). Susceptibility to emotional contagion and demographic factors were measured using the Emotional Contagion Scale (ECS; Doherty, 1997) and a demographic questionnaire, respectively. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that the cognitive-affective experience of resolved and unresolved conflict differ significantly. However, emotional contagion alone does not seem to affect or distort cognitive appraisals. These results indicate that other factors, such as coping resources and ego defenses, may play a significant role in modifying the effects of emotional contagion on cognitive appraisals. Future research should focus on including these factors so that new conflict resolution models can be developed which will focus not only on the alteration of one's perceptions, but will also focus on providing an understanding of how these perceptions developed. By doing so, clinicians utilizing or teaching conflict resolution can enhance their own skills and more effectively teach others. |
