Intragroup conflicts in German preschools: the impact of leadership on conflicts between caregivers

Abstract

ABSTRACT In general, conflicts are inevitable when people collaborate. Although conflicts between caregivers occur in preschools, they have hardly been explored so far. Here, the preschool leader is expected to successfully manage the emerging conflicts. However, it is unknown how the general leadership behavior is related to conflicts within teams of caregivers. Therefore, based on the intragroup conflict theory and different leadership styles, this study investigates the impact of leadership on intragroup conflicts in German preschools. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey was administered to a sample of 182 caregivers at 75 preschools in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The results show that preschool leaders who display constructive leadership behavior minimize task, relationship, and process conflicts, while moderate constructive leaders generate higher levels of process conflicts than ambivalent leaders. Moreover, the influence of ambivalent leaders on relationship conflicts is higher than that of moderate constructive leaders. The implication of the findings is that, in order to effectively deal with intragroup conflicts, preschool leaders should obtain appropriate support and demonstrate constructive leadership behavior.