ACADEMICS’ VIEWS ON CONFLICT RESOLUTION SKILLS WHEN PROBLEMS ARISE IN INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

Abstract

This study aims to determine academics’ conflict resolution skills when problems arise in their interpersonal relationships. The data obtained to achieve this objective included academics’ sociodemographic distribution and administrator-staff relations in the university, the atmosphere among the stakeholders, the administrators’ relationships with teachers, students, and parents, the distribution of jobs between administrators and staff, and academics’ physical reactions of academic to conflict resolution. This qualitative study was conducted as a case study. The population of the study consisted of 20 academics working in a private university in Nicosia, in Northern Cyprus (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) during the 2021-2022 academic year. Purposeful sampling to represent the study population was first determined using the purposeful sampling method; the snowball sampling technique would be used as long as different views were obtained. The majority of the participants consisted of women, most of whom were aged 30-40 years, married, had children, and 16 or more years of professional experience. A semi-structured interview form, which was prepared by the researcher, was used as a data collection tool. The research data were analyzed using the content analysis method. The results showed that the established relationship was positive and authoritarian. The participants expressed their views on the need to create a positive atmosphere among stakeholders and strengthen communication, and highlighted such illnesses as physical stress, heart palpitations, difficulty in breathing, headache, neck pain, shoulder pain, and depressive mood.