Which conflict-handling approach avoids addressing the conflict and may allow it to persist?

• A. Withdraw/ Avoid
• B. Smooth/ Accommodate
• C. Force/Direct
• D. Compromise/Reconcile

Answer: (A)

Avoiding conflict means choosing not to engage with the issue, stepping back, or postponing discussion. This can keep the peace temporarily, but the underlying problem stays unresolved and the dispute may linger or resurface because nothing is confronted or resolved. In contrast, other approaches do engage with the conflict in different ways: smoothing or accommodating aims to preserve harmony by yielding to others’ concerns, which still involves addressing feelings but not the core causes; forcing or directing uses authority to impose a solution, ending the dispute without solving the underlying issues; and compromising or reconciling works toward a middle ground by addressing the problem enough to reach an agreement.