Relationships Among Conflict Management Styles, Levels of Conflict, and Reactions to Work

Relationships among (a) conflict management styles, (b) levels of conflict, (c) two general reactions to work, and (d) four types of individual outcomes experienced by employees in the United States were assessed in two studies. In Study 1, subordinates using a high-obliging style with supervisors experienced more intrapersonal conflict, supervisors using a high-integrating style with subordinates reported more intrapersonal and intragroup conflict, and low-dominating supervisors reported significantly greater intragroup conflict. In Study 2, high-integrating subordinates experienced less intrapersonal, intragroup, and intergroup conflict than low-integrating subordinates did. The results of analyses also indicated that there was a strong relationship between integrating and all six organizational outcomes. Lower job satisfaction and fewer interpersonal rewards were associated with a high-dominating style. Both integrating and compromising were positively related to interpersonal outcomes, and dominating and avoiding were negatively related to interpersonal outcomes. Finally, the more conflict individuals experienced on the job, the lower their job satisfaction and their outcomes were.