"Now you've crossed the line!"
A study of relational boundaries within recalled conflict episodes
Brittany Barbera, Colleen Hughes, and Michelle Krug - Class of 2006
Our experience as a research team has been both challenging and fascinating. Conducting qualitative research has been a rewarding experience that has earned us a place in the National Conference of Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Asheville, NC.
Our study examines how undergraduate students perceive conflict. Specifically this research describes individuals' conflict behavior as oriented toward relational boundaries. By taking a symbolic interactionist approach, we seek to understand the meaning people ascribe to their world and how those meanings are negotiated through their language. We conducted eleven interviews with participants who self-selected using a hybrid of semi-structured and narrative methods. Data was transcribed and analyzed using a variety of coding techniques.
Preliminary findings suggest that relationship type, while unique to each participant, influences a person's conflict behaviors and their reflections upon conflict outcomes. We argue that these perceptions mirror Mead's notion of the "I" and the "Me" as components of the self, and that conflict is a particularly salient relational context in which to examine symbolic interactionism.