Concern for the other's goals: Key to (de-)escalation of conflict

A hidden issue is whether the more de-escalatory behavior of cooperatively-motivated compared to competitively-motivated conflict parties is the result of less concern for one's own goals, more concern for the other's goals, or both. A scenario study and a simulation experiment among undergraduate students confirmed the hypothesis that the difference in other-concern is the critical explanator. The stronger other-concern of cooperatively-motivated compared to competitively motivated parties fostered more accommodating, more problem solving, more compromising, and less forcing, resulting in more de-escalation or less escalation.