Attributions and communication in roommate conflicts

Abstract This paper develops a theoretical approach to communication in interpersonal conflict which emphasizes the role of attributional processes. According to this view, communicative decisions in conflict are largely a function of social attributions about the intent, causality, and stability of behaviors in conflict. Factors which bias attributions along these dimensions encourage noncooperative conflict stategies. Predictions from this perspective were examined in a field study of college dormitory roommates. Open‐ended descriptions of conflicts experienced by roommates were used to formulate a typology of conflict resolution strategies. The main categories in this typology ("passive‐indirect," "distributive," and "integrative") vary in the extent to which they promote information exchange and are oriented toward individual versus mutual goals. Associations between the conflict strategies reported by subjects, their attributions for conflicts, and conflict outcomes were in the expected direction.