Contending seeks a favorable outcome for one’s own side with relatively little concern for the other party’s outcome. Demands and pressure can express this orientation. Defending a legitimate boundary, however, does not by itself establish hostility or unethical conduct.
- Entry typeKey concept
- CategoryTheories & Explanatory Models
- DomainConflict & Negotiation
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Entry type
Key concept
Key concepts are the working vocabulary of the field: the terms that the models and tools rely on and that a decision about communication has to use precisely. Each entry defines the term and sends you to the brief or the self-guided audit where it is put to work.
Editorial orientation · Category
Theories & Explanatory Models
Explains how or why a communication process works by relating mechanisms, conditions or variables. Its value is an account that can guide inquiry into what produces an outcome, rather than a name for the outcome alone.