Polarization as a Barrier to Effective Crisis Negotiation - Essay Example

ellow participant in an argument as “the other” or as something of an antagonist rather than an equal shareholder in the process and something that is quite actually neutral. Similarly, when dealing with a given situation, it is common for me to assume that the self-interested motives of others will be the sole determinant in helping to determine the way that the engagement plays out. Thirdly, rather than being able to see the situation in shades of nuance and shades of gray, or even shades of right or wrong, I am oftentimes tempted to view it from a perspective of fulfilling my own needs; regardless of whether it is able to do the same for the fellow shareholder.

Although fulfilling my own needs within the given circumstance is not bad in and of itself, it is a selfish motive that helps to drive the integration apart. Fourthly, with regards to a polarizing situation regarding communication, it is often my weakness to seek to link to the speaker and the message. This is an oversight due to the fact that it assumes that these two are necessarily the same (Medvec 389). Moreover, a better approach would be to seek to focus upon the message without polarizing it and seeking to have it intimately related to the original speaker or his/her own vantage point.

Lastly, and perhaps most specifically, I oftentimes attempt to polarize situations into firmly determinant shades of good/bad/right/wrong etc. These levels of polarization serve to lessen my ability to analyze and draw inference from a number of situations; it ultimately weakens my skill in interpreting the world around me. As a function of these 5 polarizations that have been listed, the most effective way to engage them is to seek to lessen the effect that they play on my everyday life and as a means of understanding them, seek to work to overcome them.

Furthermore, by approaching the above situations with an open mind and thoroughly focusing upon not developing preconceived perceptions of the