Topics of Interest:
What determines whether conflict will move in a destructive or constructive direction?
This is the overarching question that has driven decades of research at the MD-ICCCR. While the answers to such questions are complex, we seek to identify the most fundamental factors that lead to qualitative differences in dynamics of conflict and peace. This research has spawned new insights and new research questions, including:
- How can we use the insights from Dynamical Systems Theory (DST)—a branch of applied mathematics—to enhance our understanding of conflict processes across time, and within complex individual, social, situational, and systemic contexts?
- How do the meta-competencies of Conflict Intelligence (CIQ) and Systemic Wisdom(SW) enable us to effectively navigate different kinds of conflict dynamics—including conflicts with different levels of complexity, intensity, and resistance to change—within complex social systems?
- How do fundamental differences in goals, power, and relationship importancebetween disputants affect conflict dynamics within formal and informal negotiations, and how can they be navigated adaptively and constructively?
- What are the most basic challenges to effective mediation and how do mediators most effectively adapt and respond to them as they ebb and flow in conflict situations?
- Which cross-cultural differences have the greatest impact on how people handle conflict situations, and how can we most effectively adapt our conflict strategies when navigating these differences?
- How do disputants and third parties navigate contrasting motives and constraints in conflicts optimally and in a manner that leads to more constructive dynamics?
- What determines whether conflicts over injustice and oppression move in a constructive or destructive direction, and what factors are most impactful in mitigating polarization of political discourse and action?
- How do multicultural differences between disputants affect conflict dynamics and how can the energy from such conflicts be leveraged constructively to facilitate institutional justice and reform and multicultural harmony and unity?
- Why do some types of conflicts come to seem intractable and impossible to resolve and what can we do to alter their dynamics qualitatively?
- What are the core dynamics of sustainably peaceful communities and what are the primary factors that increase the probabilities of sustaining peace?
Current Workgroup Members:
- Peter Coleman, Ph.D.
- Lan Phan, Ph.D. Student
- Allegra Chen-Carrel, Ph.D. Student
- Andy Chan, Research Coordinator
- Danielle Coon, MD-ICCCR Associate Director
- Catherine Serianni
- Steve Hong
- Victoria Fitzgerald
- Rose Fiorentino
- Rebecca Mandelbaum
- Shaun Munroe
- Chelsea Hughes
- Chris Straw
- Nancy Lewis
Workgroup Members Continuing to Work on Projects and Papers:
- Allegra Chen-Carrel, Ph.D. Student
- Diego Ramos, Ph.D. Student
Current Research Projects:
- Conflict Intelligence and Systemic Wisdom
- Dynamical Conversations Lab
- Cross Cultural Adaptivity and Optimality
- Constructive Multicultural Organizational Development
- RDE Israeli-Palestinian Peace Project
- Social Resonance and Group Mobilization
- Conflict Anxiety Response Scale
- Liberal-Conservative Optimality Dynamics
- Navigating Political Polarization
- Leveraging Tension for Constructive Change
- Complexity Competencies for Leading in Complex Systems
Current Applied Projects:
Past Research & Applied Projects
- Situated Model of Conflict in Social Relations
- Implicit Power Theories and Empowerment
- Conflict, Culture and Complexity Lab Studies
- Dynamical Measure of Individualism-Collectivism
- Adaptive Negotiation: Navigating Power and Conflict
- Adaptive Mediation in Dynamic Systems
- Situated Model of Mediation in Social Conflict
- Multilevel Assessment – 5 Percent Framework
- Cooperation, Competition and Mixed-Motive Dynamics in Conflict
- Collaboration with the United Nations Mediation Support Unit (MSU)
Representative Publications:
Books
Coleman, P. T. (2021). The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization. New York, Columbia University Press
Coleman, P. T. & Deutsch, M. (2015). Morton Deutsch: Major Texts on Peace Psychology. Springer Books.
Coleman, P. T. & Deutsch, M. (2015). Morton Deutsch: A Pioneer in Developing Peace Psychology. Springer Books.
Coleman P. T., Deutsch, M. & Marcus, E. (Eds.). (2014). The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice. 3rd Edition, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Coleman, P.T. & Ferguson, R. (September, 2014). Making Conflict Work: Harnessing the power of disagreement.
New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Vallacher, R., Coleman, P. T., Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., Liebovitch, L., Kugler, K. & Bartoli, A. (2013). Attracted to Conflict: The Dynamic Foundations of Malignant Social Relations. New York, NY: Springer.
Coleman, P. T. (Ed.). (2012). Conflict, Justice, and Interdependence: The Legacy of Morton Deutsch. New York, NY: Springer.
Coleman, P. T. & Deutsch, M. (Eds.). (July, 2012). The Psychological Components of a Sustainable Peace. New
York: Springer.
Coleman, P. T. (2011). The five percent: Finding solutions to seemingly impossible conflicts. New York: Perseus Book Group.
Articles
Aumeerally, N., Chen-Carrel, A. & Coleman, P. T. (2022). Learning with Peaceful, Heterogenous Communities: Lessons on Sustaining Peace in Mauritius. Peace and Conflict Studies.
Fry, D. P., Souillac, G., Liebovitch, L. S., Coleman, P. T., Agan, K., Nicholson-Cox, E., Mason, D., Gomez, F. P., Strauss, S. (2021). Societies within peace systems avoid war and build positive intergroup relationships. Humanities and Behavioral Sciences Communications 8, 17. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-00692-8.
Kim, R., Coleman, P. T., & Kugler, K. (2020). Is Conflict Adaptivity Better than Cooperation? The Effects of Adaptive Conflict Behaviors on Job-Related WellBeing in South Korea. Conflict Resolution Quarterly.
Coleman, P.T., Fisher, J., Fry, D.P., Liebovitch, L. Chen-Carrel, A., Souillac, G. (2020). How to Live in Peace? Mapping the Science of Sustaining Peace: A Progress Report. American Psychologist.
Kugler, K. and Coleman, P. T. (2020). Get Complicated: The Effects of Complexity on Conversations over Potentially Intractable Moral Conflicts. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research. 10.1111/ncmr.12192.
Liebovitch, L. Coleman, P. T., Bechhofer, A., Colon, C., Donahue, J., Eisenbach C., Guzm´an-Vargas, L., Jacobs, D., Khan, A., Li, C., Maksumov, D., Mucia, J., Persaud, M., Salimi, M., Schweiger, L., Wang, Q. (2019). Complexity analysis of sustainable peace: mathematical models and data science measurements. New Journal of Physics. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ab2a96
Liebovitch, L., Coleman, P. T., and Fisher, J. (2019). Approaches to Understanding Sustainable Peace: Qualitative Causal Loop Diagrams and Quantitative Mathematical Models. American Behavioral Scientist. 000276421985961. 10.1177/0002764219859618.
Coleman, P. T., Liebovitch, L. and Fisher, J. (2019). Taking complex systems seriously: Visualizing and modeling the dynamics of sustainable peace. Global Policy, June, 2019. 10.1111/1758-5899.12680.
Coleman, P. T., and Bass, B. (2019). Facing uncertain times together: Strengthening intercultural connections. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 22, pp. 1-14.
Coleman, P. T. (2019). Tentative teachings on conflict from Trump’s tumultuous tenure in office. Negotiation Journal, 35(1), p. 231-234.
Coleman, P. T., Kugler, K. G., Kim, R. and Vallacher, R. (2018). Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst: Regulatory focus optimality in high and low-intensity conflict. International Journal of Conflict Management, 30(1), 45-64.
Coleman, P. T., Kugler, K. G., Kim, R. and Vallacher, R. (forthcoming). Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst: Regulatory focus optimality in high and low-intensity conflict. International Journal of Conflict Management.
Coleman, P. T. (2018). Morton Deutsch (1920–2017). American Psychologist, 73(2), 198.
Coleman, P. T. (2018). Conflict intelligence and systemic wisdom: Meta-competencies for engaging conflict in a complex, dynamic world. Negotiation Journal, 34, 1, pp. 7-35.
Coleman, P. T. (2018). Ten major scientific contributions that promote a more just, peaceful and sustainable world. Negotiation Journal, 34, 1, pp. 105-116.
Coleman, P. T., Coon, D., Kim, R., Chung, C., Regan, B., Anderson. R., & Bass, B. (2017). Promoting constructive multicultural attractors: Fostering unity and fairness from diversity and conflict. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science.
Coleman, P. T., Kugler, K. G., and Chatman, L. (2017). Adaptive mediation: An evidence-based contingency approach to mediating conflict. International Journal of Conflict Management.
Webb, C. E., Coleman, P. T., Rossignac-Milon, M., Tomasulo, S. J., & Higgins, E. T. (2017). Moving on or Digging Deeper: Regulatory Mode and Interpersonal Conflict Resolution. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000131
Kim, R. and Coleman, P. T. (2015) The Combined Effect of Individualism – Collectivism on Conflict Styles and Satisfaction: An Analysis at the Individual Level. Peace and Conflict Studies, 22, 2.
Coleman, P. T., Kugler, K., Gozzi, C., Mazzaro, K., El Zokm, N & Kressel, K. (2015). Putting the peaces together: Introducing a situated model of mediation. International Journal of Conflict Management.
Coleman, P. T., & Kugler, K. G. (2014). Tracking Managerial Conflict Adaptivity: Introducing a Dynamic Measure of Adaptive Conflict Management in Organizations.Journal of Organizational Behavior. Online first publication.
Kurt, L., Kugler, K. G., Coleman, P. T., & Liebovitch, L. S. (2014). Behavioral and emotional dynamics of two people struggling to reach consensus about a topic on which they disagree. PLoS ONE, 9, 1-15.
Coleman, P.T., Kugler K., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., Nowak, A. & Vallacher, R. (2012). Getting Down to Basics: A Situated Model of Conflict in Social Relations. Negotiations Journal, 28(1), 7-43.
Vallacher, R., Coleman, P. T., Nowak, A., Bui-Wrzosinska, L. (2010). Rethinking intractable conflict: The perspective of dynamical systems. American Psychologist, 65 (4), 262-278.
Coleman, P.T., Kugler, K., Mitchinson, A., Chung, C.T., & Musallam, N. (2010). The View from Above and Below: The Effects of Power and Interdependence Asymmetries on Conflict Dynamics and Outcomes in Organizations. Negotiations and Conflict Management Research, 3 (4), 283-331.
Coleman, P.T., Vallacher, R.R., Nowak, A. & Bui-Wrzosinska, L. (Eds., 2010). Special Issue: Dynamical Systems Theory and Conflict. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 16 (2).
Coleman, P.T., Gray, B. & Putnam, L.L. (Eds., 2007). Special Issue: Intractable Conflict.American Behavioral Scientist, 50 (11).
Peter T. Coleman (2003). Characteristics of Protracted, Intractable Conflict: Toward the Development of a Metaframework-I . Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 9(1).
Information for interested applicants:
For further information, visit us at http://icccr.tc.columbia.edu/
If you have additional questions, please contact Danielle Coon at dnc2123@tc.columbia.edu.