Towards an Attribute-Based Conceptualization of Conflict: Reflections on Three Decades of Conflict

Conflict is considered a frequent phenomenon and crucial concern for social entities. Despite the dynamic nature of conflict, the event-oriented perspective has received relatively less attention in conflict research, which overly utilizes intensity and frequency to describe conflict. Through a systematic and integrative review, we address this gap by synthesizing the current state of knowledge on conflict and establishing a comprehensive theoretical framework for conflict attributes as well as an attribute-based conceptualization of conflict. The framework depicts conflict from three separate but related dimensions – strength, time, and space. The framework in turn helps expand knowledge on conflict, which scholars can build on to fill gaps, resolve paradoxes, and thus move conflict research forward. We then propose four promising areas for future conflict inquiry: (1) linking the effectiveness of conflict to its attributes; (2) exploring the interplay and configuration of multiple conflict attributes; (3) progressing from variance- to process-oriented conflict theories; and (4) developing symmetric/asymmetric views of conflict.