Interpersonal Conflict Management Research Articles

Rowboat in a hurricane: Metaphors of interpersonal conflict management

Metaphors are cognitive structures that help individuals understand their world. In interpersonal conflict management, metaphors can function as models for how conflicts should be negotiated. Hocker and Wilmot (1991) asserted that negative metaphors appear to dominate interpersonal conflicts. The results from this investigation support the prevalence of negative interpersonal conflict metaphors. The 349 respondents in this study used 6l6 interpersonal conflict metaphors that resulted in 28 categories. These data, however, contradict the categories previously specified in the literature. To highlight the function of metaphors as models of interpersonal conflict, the natural processes metaphor is analyzed to illustrate the (a) general nature of the conflict process within the metaphor, (b) role of the person using the metaphor, (c) role of the conflict partner within the metaphor, (d) power distribution inherent within the model, and (e) conflict management strategies and tactics encouraged by the metaphoric model.

Fighting With Friends and Lovers: Interpersonal Conflict Management and Resolution

Fighting With Friends and Lovers: Interpersonal Conflict Management and Resolution

Personality and interpersonal conflict management

This study addressed the extent to which personality factors are related to responses to interpersonal conflict. Two issues were examined: (a) the relationship between personality measures and conflict styles and (b) the consistency of conflict response style across targets. One hundred and fifty-three college students evaluated five different conflict responses as to the frequency with which they used them in interaction with a professor, a parent, and a friend. They also completed the Personality Research Form, a measure of a variety of personality needs. Some of the conflict responses were related to personality needs. Achievement, nurturance, endurance, and social desirability related to an integrating conflict response; dominance and understanding related to dominating. In general, the results of this study point to the importance of both personality and situational (i.e. target) factors in understanding responses to interpersonal conflict. However, because personality factors were not related to all of the conflict responses and because there was some inconsistency in personality/conflict relationships across target, these results suggest that a personality or individual difference approach to the study of interpersonal conflict management may be too restricted.

The effects of sex of source and target on interpersonal conflict management styles

This study investigated the effects of subject sex and target sex on reported conflict management styles. Subjects (n = 147) were instructed to think of either a same‐ or opposite‐sex person while completing the Thomas‐Kilmann Conflict Mode instrument. Results indicated that males were more likely than females to report using a competing style, while females were more likely than males to report using a compromising style. Regardless of their own gender, all subjects were more likely to report using an accommodating style if the target was female. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Relationships between Interpersonal Attraction and Conflict Management

Relationships between Interpersonal Attraction and Conflict Management

ASSAULTIVENESS AND ALCOHOL USE IN FAMILY DISPUTES

Abstract Systematic naturalistic observation often contradicts experimental laboratory findings and idiosyncratic personal perceptions. In this study, family disputes managed by police officers trained in interpersonal conflict management yielded uniform observational data on 1,388 cases. The view shared by police and by social scientists that family disputes are likely to involve assaultiveness and that such behavior is typically caused by alcohol use was not supported by these data. Instead, the findings suggest that: assaults do not usually precede arrival of police; disputes are not usually influenced by alcohol use; and, indeed, assaults are less common when alcohol has been used.