The Influence Of Power For Conflict Resolution Strategy

Power is a fundamental aspect of everyday social life. The early studies viewd power as a structure variable. The thought the discrepancy in practical power existed in the social context and they link the corruption with power directly. In recent years, psychologists explored power in the point of social cognition. They viewed power as a mental state. The priming of power anytime(no discrepancy in the structural power) can activation the tendency of the behavior involved power.The society runs with the constant production and resolution of social conflict. The conflict resolution strategy is the core of conflict. China is in the transition period and various conflicts emerge in an endless stream. A lot of the conflicts arises between the groups in different level of power, such as the official and civil conflict. It is necessary to explore the influence of power on conflict resolution strategy.The thesis would first make comprehensive literature summary of Chinese and foreign researches about power and resolution strategies to conflicts and then put forward the research hypothesis based on the correlative studies.The thesis took390college students in Nanjing as participant and to explore the relationship between power and conflict resolution strategy. The high or low power of the participants was primed by the word-search task and the conflict resolution strategy was reflected by the conflict material.The results of the researches show that:1.When facing the context of conflict, there is no significant difference between the high power participants and the low power participants on the resolution strategies of competition and cooperation.2.When facing the context of conflict, there is significant difference between the high power participants and the low power participants on the resolution strategies of intimidation and negotiation.The participants primed with low power was more often to adopt the strategy of negotiation.3.When facing the context of conflict, there is significant difference between the high power participants and the low power participants on the resolution strategies of violence.The participants primed with high power was more often to adopt violence.4. When facing the context of conflict, there is significant difference between the high power participants and the low power participants on the resolution strategies of force and submission. The participants primed with high power was more often to adopt force to compel others to obey them.5.When facing the context of conflict, there is significant difference between the high power participants and the low power participants on the resolution strategies of compromise. The participants primed with low power was more often to compromise.