Conflict Management Styles in Toy Story

Luke Maher

Conflict Management Styles

            In this blog I will be examining the various conflict management styles as they are seen in the Disney Pixar classic film, Toy Story. At the film’s beginning we see conflict emerge as Buzz Lightyear clashes with Woody, the existing leader of the group. From the onset, Woody exhibits the competing style of conflict management. He attempts to consolidate his power by instructing the rest of the group to not associate with Buzz. He utilizes the act of forcing, not contending. He calls on his own superior power to command the group to stay away from Buzz, even though most of the group does not agree with this. Author Astrid Baumgardner argues that using the competing style too often can “escalate the conflict, breed resentment among others and damage relationships”. Woody’s attempt to force the others to dislike Buzz backfired, as they grew to resent him for it. It took a lot of work for Woody to mend the damaged relationships with his followers.

            When Buzz and Woody are marooned at Sid’s, we see different conflict management styles emerge. After Buzz realizes he cannot really fly, he becomes depressed and resorts to the avoiding style of conflict management. He shows low interest both in his relationship with Woody and in his concern for escape. Dale Eilerman of Meditate.com says, “In some cases efforts to avoid conflict are fitting and effective. In other cases avoiding conflict only contributes to the problem and prevents it from being resolved”. Clearly for Buzz, avoiding conflict was not effective, as Woody could not escape without his assistance.

            The most effective form of conflict management in the film is the collaborating style. Woody and Buzz utilize this to escape from Sid. They team up with the other toys to plan their escape. Since they are collaborating, they view their conflict as a problem that simply needs to be resolved.  Ashley Borniger of Kansas State University describes the role of the collaborator, (in this case Woody) perfectly. “The focus for a collaborator is the search for a perfection solution that will keep everyone happy”. Woody and Buzz ultimately achieve this goal, as every toy safely escapes.

Sources:

Eilerman, Dale. "The Use and Misuse of an Avoiding Style in Conflict Management." The Use and Misuse of an Avoiding Style in Conflict Management. N.p., Sept. 2006. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.

Baumgardner, Astrid. "Articles and Events." Conflict Management Styles: The Start of Effective Conflict Management. N.p., 2012. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.

Borniger, Ashley, Ashley Ransom, and Claudia L. Treviño. "Conflict Resolution." Conflict Resolution. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.