Dual Concern Model

The Dual Concern Model explains how people handle conflicts based on two main priorities: their concern for their own interests and their concern for others’ interests. Depending on these priorities, individuals choose different strategies: sometimes asserting their own needs (competition), cooperating to find a solution that benefits everyone (collaboration), avoiding the conflict (avoidance), yielding to the other’s wishes (accommodation), or compromising. The model helps predict which approach someone might use in a disagreement, balancing assertiveness and concern for relationship harmony to resolve conflicts effectively.