Walking on eggshells? Cultivating adaptive conflict outcomes in performance sport

Conflict is a seemingly inevitable phenomenon in sport, particularly in high performance contexts. Traditionally, conflict has been perceived as maladaptive, necessitating mitigating action. With the aim of enhancing research informed practice, this critical review of sport and organisational literature frames conflict as a biopsychosocial phenomenon, experienced at the individual level but strongly moderated by sociocultural context. Given the unique context of HP sport, alongside limited research we address the conceptual inconsistencies within the literature, particularly concerning the categorisation of conflict by type (e.g. task/relational) and the role of negative affect in conflict outcomes. Rather than something to be avoided, conflict may yield practically adaptive outcomes under certain conditions. We argue for a deeper consideration of the sociocultural context of high-performance sport, emphasizing the role of negative affect in promoting reflection and motivating change, rather than viewing it solely as something to avoid. Specifically, we propose a shift in orientation, to viewing the outcomes of conflict as being adaptive, or maladaptive, rather than conflict itself. Consequently, we offer practical suggestions that leverage the potential utility of conflict moving away from the mitigation of conflict to careful and context-sensitive orchestration.