Definitions that make conflicts difficult to manage productively
1. Zero-sum definition: Parties perceive that whatever on gains, the other loses. The outcome will either grant them complete success or complete failure.
2. Egocentric definition of the issue: Parties perceive the issue only from their own frame of reference.
3. Narrow focus on a single issue and its immediate effects.
4. “Ideological” issue: The conflict is defined as a moral struggle between forces of good and evil.
5. A small number of alternatives is available.