Conflict is unavoidable in any relationship, personal or professional. When someone engages in conflict, the individual should consider how to manage and resolve the conflict effectively. When conflict exists, there is an expressed struggle, between at least two individuals who perceive incompatible goals. The conflict I will highlight from the movie Frozen is between two sisters, Elsa and Anna. They have a miscommunication where Elsa is trying to protect Anna by avoiding her and shutting her out, causing isolation and strain on their relationship. Anna desires to be close to her sister and she does not know why Elsa shuts her out. As a result, Anna has hurt feelings and she feels like it is her fault they do not spend time together.
When individuals’ goals are incompatible, and communication is not open between both parties, conflict is inevitable. There are a few techniques the characters could have engaged in to improve their interpersonal communications. One of these techniques includes engaging in positive relationship maintenance behaviors (Bevan & Sole, 2014). In other words, Elsa could have been open with Anna, sharing with her why she needed to keep her distance from her. Instead, Elsa employed a negative relationship maintenance behavior of avoidance, leading to confusion and anger. Another effective way Elsa could have improved their relationship is by expressing empathy towards Anna. There are many ways to express empathy, including active listening, being sensitive to the other person’s feelings. To express empathy, an individual has the ability to put the self in another person’s shoes or to imagine another person’s feelings or thoughts. If Elsa considered how she was making Anna feel by avoiding her instead of speaking with her openly, she would have improved their relationship greatly. Anna would not continue to think she had done something wrong all these years. When faced with conflict, there are some conflict management strategies to incorporate to help move through the conflict.
Anna expressed her feelings constructively to Elsa throughout the film as well as the use of “I” statements, where Anna would share her feelings with Elsa and let her know that she was there for her. Using “I” statements lets the other person know how you are feeling without that person feeling attacked. Anna’s persistence and patience along with engaging in multiple attempts of communicating with Elsa eventually led to collaboration and they were able to resolve their misunderstanding. In the film, Anna continued to remain positive in her communications with her sister which reinforced and reminded Elsa the positive things about their relationship enabling them to work out their differences, ultimately maintaining a happy relationship. When individuals’ goals are incompatible, and communication is not open between both parties, conflict is inevitable. Because Elsa and Anna were able to incorporate conflict management strategies, they were able to preserve their relationship in the end.
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