Both forms of conflict may involve intense competition over strongly held positions. Such competition becomes destructive when the positions become polarized, and parties become cemented into their respective positions. The authors argue that conflicts are not entirely under any party's control. Conflicts should be viewed in terms of behavioral cycles which have features independent of the mere sum of the individual's actions. The parties' behaviors are both reactive and predictive.
Participants react to the other's last move, in anticipation of their next.
This predictive element involves interpreting the other's motives, and can make it quite difficult to understand the thinking of parties in conflict. It can also produce an infinite spiral, as I try to predict what you will predict that I will predict about your predictions about my predictions, and so on.