Abstract
The present study investigated whether emotion regulation moderates the association between relationship conflict and group emotional exhaustion and whether conflict management moderates the association between task conflict and group work engagement in organizational workgroups. We conducted hierarchical regression and moderation analyses on questionnaire responses from the members of 91 workgroups (N = 595). The analyses revealed that emotion regulation via distraction moderated the influences of relationship conflict on group emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, a cooperative style of conflict management moderated the influences of task conflict on group work engagement. The findings suggest that distraction and a cooperative style are effective for moderating group emotional exhaustion and group work engagement respectively. Future research should use a more interpretive perspective to gain deeper insight on the ways of managing conflict at the workgroup level. This study suggests which strategies would be most useful for reducing group emotional exhaustion and for increasing group work engagement
Highlights
To survive and thrive in an increasingly complex work environment, organizations often rely on workgroups
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the distraction and cognitive reappraisal strategies of emotion regulation on the association between relationship conflict and group emotional exhaustion
We attempted to examine how cooperative versus competitive styles of conflict management moderate the association between task conflict and group work engagement
Summary
To survive and thrive in an increasingly complex work environment, organizations often rely on workgroups. Group members bring different values, norms, expertise, and attitudes to job-related and interpersonal issues. These differences can ignite intragroup conflict defined as real or perceived incompatibilities among group members (Jehn, 1995). Two broad types of intragroup conflict have been identified: relationship conflict and task conflict (Jehn, 1995) These conflict types are distinct, both in their nature and in their effects on workgroup outcomes (e.g., Jehn and Mannix, 2001). Even so, both types of intragroup conflict, especially relationship conflict, have detrimental effects on workgroup outcomes (De Dreu and Weingart, 2003; De Wit, Greer, and Jehn, 2012). Research investigating the distinct effects of relationship conflict and task conflict on the different aspects of well-being and moderators of this relationship is sparse
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