Conflict in Relationships

According to Wilmot and Hocker the definition of conflict is “an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, and interference from others in achieving their goals.” Going off of this definition I believe the conflicts I have been enduring with my girlfriend falls verbatim to the text. My girlfriend and I have been together for a year now we met here at Ohio University, and we made the mutual decision at the beginning of last semester for her to move into my apartment. Since she has moved in we have had constant arguments and true conflict. We both love each other dearly and believe all the conflict is a result of how much we care about each other. Then again I think to myself if we love so much should there be so much conflict, because it is truly tiring to the both of us and I don’t know how much more we can endure.

As I stated my girlfriend and I live together at my apartment, that being said we experience conflict on the daily whether it is something petty or a major problem. I know that while being in a relationship it takes time, dedication, and commitment in order for both parties to be happy, but with that conflict comes. Our conflicts have been expressed in many different ways whether it is being ignored for hours at a time or yelling at each other for a period time. We both know each other’s buttons, and what triggers each other to become angry at each other or at the situation. The major conflicts come at least once a week and we endure small problems daily, and that’s expected but for a major conflict every simply isn’t necessary. I can honestly say all of our conflicts are covert we have made a mutual decision with each other that if we do have...

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...us committed relationship, but I do feel like my girlfriend and I have much work to do in order to resolve disagreements in the correct manner. It shouldn’t take us to sit in separate rooms for hours to come back to each other calmly and to resolve the issue. We are both working on our separate issues in order to have easier disagreements and not cause each other so much stress because it isn’t needed. The reason I am truly taking this class is to help me with managing conflict and how to actually resolve a conflict and to come to an understanding while using different techniques that I hope to learn in this class. Just by writing this paper it has helped us both tremendously, I believe when writing it lets me truly explain how I feel. I then let her read it and give me her opinion off of what I write, and to then give me her perspective to come an understanding.