Archive for month: October, 2014

This week on Survivor we were bombarded with some very interesting and unexpected conflict that mainly involved Drew and Kelly, who clearly had the wrong idea of going about his tribe dynamic. Many of these instances coincide with Chapter 8, Conflict and Cohesion in Groups. Drew decided to use very counterproductive conflict styles, even when confronted directly with the concern that he is the problem. He is a perfect example of Avoidance; unwilling to put forth the same amount of effort to help his tribe succeed, therefore damaging them as a whole. Drew felt safe, and thought he had it all figured out while unknowingly he was blindsided by the woman on his team and voted off. He was also competitive, but not as a great attribute to the team, instead he was contributing hostility to other tribe members which is bound to result in diving the group just as our book explains. Although he divided the group, he added life, in the sense that there were strong beliefs that he was the initiator of. All of this encompasses destructive conflict, which is what he displayed with the personal attacks against Kelly and disregarded the goal of the tribe. It interests me that Drew had not been a contestant that caught our eye for being involved or vocal, but as soon as he tried…it was apparent he was going about having power the wrong way. This embodies Affective conflict because his personal conflict with Kelly effects everyone in the group although it is an interpersonal disagreement. I look forward to watching who will be the next to stir up conflict or cohesion in Survivor, and I find it enjoyable when it is someone who seemingly does not do so because they are afraid of asserting their power in a group.

This episode is a great example of Chapter 8 conflicts

Throughout the episode there are multiple examples of Affective Conflicts, where there are personal attacks that may contribute to even more conflicts within the tribes.

Since Jeremy’s wife was sent home ìn episode 2, he feels a resentment towards the baseball player John for not protecting her against being eliminated. I do not undertand why it would piss Jeremy off that John didn’t protect him when the game is based on the survival of an indivisual. There is no garunteed way that John could have ensured her safety. Since Jeremy got really butthurt he soon began to turn his own tribe against John by releasing his true identity and the rumors about him given in an article in the past.

Now that the personal conflict between Jeremy and John has been established it soon extends to a huge conflict throuhgout each of the tribes. Natalie goes off on John and reveals to the orange team what he once stood for. Given the news the orange team falls into a progressive conflict when they can not decide who to vote out that night. Since the personal complications have developed a slippery slope into something bigger which concludes with john being voted out,

There is a lot of conflict in the show Survivor. Conflict is defined as the disagreement and disharmony that occurs in groups when members express differences. For example at the beginning of the episode, Drew wanted to negotiate with Jeff and trade the lost flint for the fishing gear. However, none of the tribe members agreed with this decision. They experienced substantive conflict because the tribe members disagreed about his decisions, ideas and actions. Jeff turned down Drew so the members were right for disagreeing.

Affective Conflict can happen when there are interpersonal disagreements and members conflicting core values and beliefs. For example, Jeremy is upset because Keith is telling the others that he has an idol. In Jeremy’s commentaries, he states that Keith could have just asked him directly instead of spreading the rumor and telling the others. That shows a conflict due to a different in core vales and beliefs. Jeremy thought Keith had his back but felt his values were different.

Affective conflict can also occur members do not feel appreciated. For example, Missy is feeling annoyed by Alec and she has to bite her tongue several times. When they were going to cook the rice, they made her go back down and rinse off the dish because Alec felt she was “half ass-ing it”. She is feeling unappreciated by the others.

Procedural Conflict is disagreement among group members about the method or process the group uses in attempt to accomplish a goal. For example, Drew decides to throw the challenge so his team is not safe for being voted off and so he can get ride of the ‘snakes’. The rest of his group members would probably disagree if they knew of the hidden method/strategy.

We also see a lot of competition conflict style. This type of style occurs when group members are more concerned with their own goals than with those of the group. For example, Drew throwing the challenge in order to achieve his own goal of ultimately becoming the survivor winner. He says, “I am a bad ass, manipulator of the game.” However, at the the end he gets voted off.

Survivor is full of conflict and only getting better!

On episode 4 of Survivor it starts off with Jacqueline loosing against her boyfriend in the first obstacle and she is sent to exile island along with Drew from the opposite team. While on the Island Drew confides in Jacqueline that he is thinking about throwing the next competition on purpose to start weeding out some of his own team mates, specifically targeting the girls.  Once Drew and Jacqueline returned and participate in the next challenge, it is obvious Drew throws the win. Since Drew believes he is an essential leader of his tribe he tries to get his team members on his side to agree to vote off Kelly a seemingly nonthreatening contestant, but has been obviously irritated with Drew’s ego. During the elimination- lots of conflicts were brought up and discussed, including Drew’s idea that the girls were going to be aligning against the men and although they were smaller in number had to be dealt with.  Ultimately all the girls vote Drew off and get him eliminated.

What makes this show so entertaining is the meshing between all of the different people. Not only are there different sexes, but ages, cultures, careers, and relationships. Many of these things play a part in how the members interact with one another, form alliances, and create a strategy.  There is a number of firefighters on the show, in good physical condition and dominate personalities. Some people are trusting and feel betrayed. For instance Jeremy thinks to be in an alliance with Keith, both firemen, and feels betrayed by Keith when he learns Keith started a rumor that Jeremy posses an immunity. What Jeremy believed to be a break in their trust, Keith did not.  Another part of the show that sticks out in my mind is when Alec, Drew’s twin brother is talking about the differences in their growing up he claims that their father would go to Alec when he needed things done, and points out that Drew is the lazier of the two and always has been.

All of these different races, genders and beliefs are just a few reasons that contribute to the diversity in the team members. All have their own perspective of how they view different situations and conflicts should be handled. Some personalities are bigger and more aggressive than others and those seem to be the ones being voted off more frequently. Not everyone is perfect and it is easier to see the flaws in those who constantly speak their minds and everyone begins to decide for themselves who should stay and who needs to go.