Compromising

The practice of making concessions to settle conflicts or differences of opinions between parties in personal, business, or political relationships.

The appropriateness and occurrences of compromising have been studied by researchers in the fields of interpersonal communications and management, among them M. Afzalur Rahim, whose studies in organizational conflict management strategies have been recognized since the 1970s. According to Rahim, compromising is most appropriate when the goals of each party are mutually exclusive, when each party is equally powerful, when there is a lack of consensus between parties, when integrating or dominating styles do not succeed, and as temporary solutions to complex problems. Compromising, he added, is not appropriate when one party is dominant or when a problem's complexity calls for more involved methods of problem solving.

Researchers studying interpersonal relationships, including marriage, have found higher levels of satisfaction between people who can compromise. For more information, see Rahim (2002) and Rahim, Kaufman, and Psenicka (2004).