What role might power play in these conflicts for Mark and Anna?
Conflict is inevitable and it occurs in close relationships; couples argue and disagree over money like in the case of Mark and Anna. Conflict forms part of any interpersonal relationship. Power causes conflict because people use interpersonal power to achieve what they desire . Power influences the decisions made in families, which includes how to manage money. Power is the ability to influence the others in the family in most families; it is a norm that the man is the one to provide for the family. This implies that Mark is the one to pay most of the bills like utility, food, school fees and any other unexpected expense the family might incur. However, this is different from Mark's and Anna's case, both of the expresses equal power, whereby if Mark pays rent and all the bills, Anna takes care of all the household chores. However, the main challenge is that Anna has to be careful with the spending
What type of power is it?
The type of power in this example is expert power, based on the circumstances of this example, Mark works to fulfill the family needs by bringing money that covers for all the family expenses and Anna employs her knowledge by saving money on catering for recurring expenses, like food, electricity, children products, and other daily expenses.
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Does Mark have more power over Anna because he works and handles the money?
Mark does not have more powers than Anna by the fact that he brings money to cater for the family needs. Anna has equal powers to Mark because she helps in saving the money. Conflict is likely to occur regarding money due to the imbalance of power.
How might Mark and Anna renegotiate this power imbalance?
Both Mark and Anna can renegotiate for equal power by discussing how to handle expenses by agreeing on what each of them can do based on their financial status instead of fighting.