In an article recently submitted to the ArXiv* server, researchers introduced a novel approach called REHEARSAL to tackle interpersonal conflict. They acknowledged interpersonal conflict as an uncomfortable yet inevitable aspect of human interaction and emphasized the value of navigating it skillfully through deliberate practice.
Study: REHEARSAL: Enhancing Conflict Resolution Skills through Simulated Interactions. Image credit: Horoscope/Shutterstock
*Important notice: arXiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
However, the challenge lies in the limited availability of practical training and constructive feedback. This challenge, tackled by the REHEARSAL system, allows users to engage in conflict simulations with realistic interlocutors, explore hypothetical scenarios, and receive valuable feedback on conflict resolution strategies. Interest-rights-power (IRP) prompting, rooted in IRP theory, forms the system's core. This feature guides users toward effective conflict-resolution strategies.
Background
Interpersonal conflict is a pervasive and challenging aspect encompassing various forms, such as verbal disputes, physical altercations, and passive-aggressive behaviors. For instance, conflict in the workplace causes increased stress, reduced productivity, and absenteeism. While conflict may be inevitable, how individuals address and resolve it can significantly impact the outcomes.
In most scenarios, an ideal resolution involves cooperative communication. Effectively steering conflicts toward collaborative communication is a skill that demands targeted and repeated practice, ideally with immediate feedback. Traditional expert-guided conflict role-play is an effective but costly and scarce method of honing conflict resolution skills. However, simulating realistic conflict scenarios at an expert level and providing immediate feedback could significantly enhance an individual's conflict resolution abilities. This approach offers a cost-effective and scalable means of improvement.
Related Work
Previous studies have explored conflict resolution by transforming challenging interpersonal interactions into cooperatives and categorizing strategies as constructive and destructive. However, the practical application of these strategies in practice necessitates a more specific understanding. Many recent works have extended this framework to include IRP strategies by offering a nuanced approach to conflict resolution. Conflict resolution experts often rely on role-play scenarios to teach these strategies, but finding experts and resources for such training can be challenging.
Proposed Method
REHEARSAL is an interactive dialogue system that allows users to engage in realistic conflict simulations and provides valuable feedback on their responses. Users can select from curated conflict scenarios or create their own, with REHEARSAL guiding them through conflict resolution strategies based on IRP theory. The system alternates between conflict simulation and feedback modes, enabling users to practice identifying and applying effective conflict resolution strategies.
Additionally, it allows users to explore alternative approaches through "what-if?" scenarios to enhance their understanding and application of conflict resolution skills. This dual-mode interaction aims to teach users the nuances of conflict resolution by promoting better understanding and applying these skills in real-life situations.
REHEARSAL harnesses the power of Large Language Models (LLMs) to create lifelike conflict simulations and give users valuable feedback. IRP directs LLM-generated responses to ensure that the simulated conflicts faithfully adhere to established conflict resolution principles. This intricate process includes contextualization, generating alternative messages, response planning, and user interaction, providing an effective platform for users to hone their conflict resolution skills.
Evaluation of the IRP Prompting Technique
The technical evaluation of REHEARSAL's IRP prompting strategy demonstrates its effectiveness in simulating conflict scenarios aligned with conflict resolution theory. The accuracy evaluation reveals that the IRP Planning component consistently classifies messages into various conflict strategies with high accuracy, ranging from cooperative to competitive and neutral processes. While there are slight challenges in distinguishing between specific methods like Interests and Positive Expectations, these misclassifications have a minimal impact on the overall effectiveness of REHEARSAL.
Furthermore, the ecological validity assessment illustrates the importance of the complete IRP prompting pipeline in generating realistic and instructive conflict simulations. The complete IRP prompting pipeline performs better than versions lacking specific components. It strikes a balance between simulations that are either too agreeable or too stubborn, making them more effective at teaching conflict resolution strategies. This balance is crucial for offering users a meaningful and educational experience in practicing conflict resolution strategies, particularly in more extended conversations where the benefits of the entire pipeline become more pronounced.
Strategic Simulation and Ethical Considerations
This critical reflection explores the effectiveness of simulated role-play for education and highlights the importance of grounding LLMs in social science theories. It emphasizes that the success of simulated role-play largely depends on its alignment with domains where expert role-play is effective. This approach is particularly true in soft-skill training, emphasizing practical application rather than knowledge memorization. Additionally, this addresses the ethical dimensions of deploying generative models in educational contexts, highlighting concerns about stereotypes, job displacement, and the need for responsible deployment strategies.
Conclusion
To summarize, the REHEARSAL system teaches conflict resolution through simulated interactions. The system uses IRP prompting, grounding language models in conflict resolution theory and helping users build practical conflict resolution skills. In the experimental results, the dataset trained with REHEARSAL exhibited enhanced conflict resolution strategies during real conflicts. The discussion also covered potential applications, limitations, ethical considerations, and the societal impacts of such systems.
*Important notice: arXiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.