Conflict management

A two (process) by two (relationship) by two (issue) design was implemented in order to investigate the effects of the process used to deal with a conflict, the relationship of those involved in the conflict, and the issue that the conflict is centered around. Subjects read one of eight different scenario types and rated them on their satisfaction with the process used, the relationship of those involved in the conflict, and the outcome of the conflict. It was predicted that a three-way interaction between the independent variables would occur. Support for the predictions was found. Results are discussed in light of past interpersonal and organizational literature.

This research study investigated the relationship between a conflict resolution/peer mediation program and school climate as evidenced by selected critical disciplinary incidents and climate surveys. Variables investigated were survey participants' status: faculty or student. The subjects of this study were 225 students and 129 faculty members of Port St. Lucie High School in St. Lucie County, Florida. The critical incidents were compared between Port St. Lucie High School which implemented the program and another comprehensive high school in St. Lucie County. The findings showed two major results: (a) although there was some increase in positive perception about school climate after the implementation of the conflict resolution/peer mediation program, it was not significant and (b) there was a decline in the rate of three of the disciplinary incidents measured, attempting to fight, fighting and striking another student were less than expected. Disrespect for others, however, was not decreased.

This thesis applies Higgins (1997) Regulatory Focus Theory to the study of conflict by exploring the relationship between power and promotion vs. prevention orientation. After considering the earlier work of Keltner, Gruenfeld & Anderson (2003) that established the considerable effect that power has on approach and avoidance behaviors, the present research shows that this link also applies to regulatory focus. In this study, participants had their sense of power experimentally manipulated by a set of vignettes and then answered follow-up questions to determine what effect this had on their regulatory focus orientation. Results indicated that high power is associated with a promotion focus, while low power, a prevention focus. The implication of these findings were discussed and were integrated with the work of Cesario, Higgins & Scholer (2008) on regulatory fit and persuasion to create a novel strategy for conflict resolution.

With the cessation of cooperation between groups or individuals comes the threat that temporary competition transforms into destructive intractable conflict. To better understand how intractable conflicts develop, Liebovitch, Naudot, Vallacher, Nowak, Bui-Wrzosinksa, and Coleman (2008) recently developed a non-linear model of two-actor cooperation-competition incorporating interaction feedback and valence. This study tested their model's predictions by investigating attitude and valence change depending on whether a social exchange was cooperative or competitive. Participants experiencing an exchange that switched from cooperation to competition exhibited greater attitude change than participants in the control or the continuously competitive interaction condition and more valence change than the control or competition switching to cooperation condition. These results support the model's prediction that greater attitude and valence fluctuation manifests in interactions transitioning from cooperation to competition, providing the first verification of the model. These findings offer new insights into how human cooperation and competition evolve over time.

This study used Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II, Form C to examine the preference for conflict management styles among Saudi and American faculty members. Additionally, the study examined the relationships between conflict management styles and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave the job. A random sample that consisted of (N = 300) faculty members was drawn evenly from Al-Baha University (BU) and Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to examine whether or not there are differences between American and Saudi faculty members in their conflict management styles. Nationality was used as the factor, and the five conflict management styles (Integrating, Obliging, Dominating, Avoiding, and Compromising) were entered as dependent variables. The level of significance was 0.05. Additionally, Pearson's correlation was used to determine if a statistically significant relationship exists between the five conflict management styles and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave the job. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Findings indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in conflict management styles between Saudi and American faculty members. Furthermore there were no significant correlations between any of the conflict management styles and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave the job. Results were discussed in light of literature review. Practical implications, limitations of the study, and recommendations were provided.

Despite extensive research in conflict, relatively little is known about how psychological processes evolve over time in response to a dispute. The present research examines how cognitive and affective processes react to cooperative, competitive, or mixed cooperative-competitive interactions. Experimental predictions were derived from a model of two-actor interaction (Liebovitch, Naudot, Vallacher, Nowak, Bu--Wrzosinksa & Coleman, 2008). Specifically, it was expected that attitudes and emotional valence would exhibit stable dynamics when people encountered a neutral, continually cooperative, or continually competitive interaction. However, attitudes and emotional valence were expected to exhibit perturbation in response to transitions from cooperation to competition and vice-versa. These predictions were tested in four experiments. The first study verified most predictions, finding that people have little attitude or valence reaction to interactions that are neutral, continually coo perative or continually competitive. This study also established that people's attitudes are significantly unstable when faced with an interaction shifting from cooperation to competition, and this is experienced with negative emotions. However, interactions shifting from competition to cooperation resulted in stable attitudes and emotional valence. The remaining three experiments sought to explain the lack of psychological reaction to the development of cooperation in a previously competitive interaction. In Study 2, interaction expectancy was ruled out as a factor. Study 3 demonstrated that the reactivity to sudden competition and lack of reactivity to sudden cooperation developed regardless of interaction history. Finally, Study 4 offers evidence indicating that the lack of reaction to sudden cooperation results from factors other than the duration of cooperative feedback. The research has several important implications. First, the results provide evidence that competition is