Hypothetical conflict situations with friends and peers

U ovom radu bavili smo se ispitivanjem uzrasnih i polnih razlika u preferiranim strategijama rešavanja sukoba u prijateljskim i vršnjačkim odnosima. Ispitivanje je sprovedeno na uzorku od 286 adolescenata. Strategije su ispitivane pomoću metode hipotetičkih konfliktnih situacija. Za potrebe istraživanja konstruisan je poseban instrument u kome su hipotetičke situacije za predmet sukoba imale nepoštovanje dogovora, nepoštovanje razlika u mišljenju, provokacije, neiskrenost i tvrdoglavost. Strategije rešavanja konflikata koje su razmatrane bile su popuštanje, povlačenje, nadmetanje i rešavanje problema. Rezultati su pokazali da je u sukobima sa prijateljima dominantna strategija adolescenata rešavanje problema, dok se u vršnjačkim sukobima oni češće odlučuju za nadmetanje. Uzrasne razlike se ogledaju u tome što stariji ispitanici češće biraju rešavanje problema nego mlađi, dok se mlađi ispitanici češće opredeljuju za strategiju povlačenja nego stariji. Devojčice se u većoj meri opredeljuju za rešavanje problema nego dečaci, koji su, sa druge strane, skloniji da popuštaju više nego devojčice. Takođe, pol druge osobe u sukobu se pokazao kao bitan, pa se u sukobima sa vršnjacima muškog pola adolescenti u većem stepenu odlučuju za nadmetanje, a u manjem za povlačenje, nego kada su u sukobu sa vršnjacima ženskog pola. Dobijeni rezultati imaju i praktične implikacije. U programima za podučavanje konstruktivnog rešavanja sukoba, koji su namenjeni mlađim adolescentima, veći akcenat treba staviti na osnaživanje i osposobljavanje za asertivno reagovanje. Prilikom podučavanja o konstruktivnim strategijama rešavanja sukoba važno je uzeti u obzir kako i pol samih adolescenata, tako i pol osoba sa kojima su oni u sukobu.This paper deals with age and sex differences in preferred strategies of conflict resolution in friendship and peer relationships. The study was conducted on the sample of 286 adolescents. Conflict resolution strategies have been investigated by the method of hypothetical conflict situations. For the purposes of this research, we have created an instrument consisting of 20 hypothetical situations, with the following subjects of conflict: breaking the agreement, non-compliance with opinion differences, provocations, dishonesty and stubbornness. Conflict resolution strategies we examined were giving in, withdrawal, competition and problem solving. The results have shown that problem solving is the dominant strategy of adolescents in conflict with friends, while in peer conflicts they more often opt for competition. Age differences are reflected in the fact that older adolescents are more likely to choose problem solving than younger, whereas younger adolescents are more likely to choose a retreat (withdrawal) strategy than older. Girls are more prone to choosing problem solving than boys, who, on the other hand, tend to withdraw more than girls. Also, gender of the other person in the conflict is proved to be important - in conflict with male peers, adolescents choose competition to a greater extent and withdraw to a minor extent, compared to when they are in conflict with female peers. The results have practical implications as well. In programs for teaching constructive conflict resolution that are designed for younger adolescents there should be more emphasis on empowerment and training for assertive behaviour. In addition, when teaching about constructive conflict resolution strategies, it is important to consider the gender of adolescents as well as the gender of the person with whom they are in conflict