Learn the differences between avoiding and accommodating conflict styles with simple explanations and examples, perfect for 11-year-old students.
When people disagree or have a problem, they can handle it in different ways. Two common ways are called 'avoiding' and 'accommodating.' Let's learn what these mean and how they are different.
Imagine you and a friend don't agree about which game to play. If you use the avoiding style, you might try to ignore the problem or walk away instead of talking about it. You avoid the conflict because you don’t want to argue or feel uncomfortable.
When avoiding is useful: Sometimes, ignoring small problems is okay if they’re not important, or if you need time to calm down before talking.
When avoiding can be a problem: If you always avoid problems, the issues might not get solved and could become bigger later.
Now, imagine you want to play soccer, but your friend wants to play basketball. If you use the accommodating style, you decide to play basketball even though you wanted soccer because you want to keep your friend happy.
When accommodating is helpful: It shows you care about others and want to keep peace, especially if the issue isn’t very important to you.
When accommodating can be a problem: If you always give in, your feelings might get hurt, and people might expect you to agree all the time.
Both styles can be helpful or not, depending on the situation. It’s important to choose the right way based on how important the problem is and how it makes you and others feel.