Caution Notice

Volume 1, Issue 1

Home / Journal / Browse Issues / Journal Of General Management Research /
Volume 1, Issue 1

Exploring the Relationship Between Personality and Conflict Resolution Style of Future Managers

Author(s)

Deepa Ayachit and N.K.Natarajan

Affiliations
  1. Gyan Ganga Institute of Technology and Management, Bhopal, India
  2. Adjunct Faculty D C School of Management and Technology, Kerela, India
Abstract

Conflicts are indispensible be it personal life or organization. Conflict is considered to be a component of interpersonal interaction, although not bad and inevitable, but is an essential part of workplace. Over the last decade, there has been an increased attention towards conflict resolution by the organizations. Conflict interactions at workplace offer a great opportunity to explore to what extent specific personality characteristics influence the style of conflict resolution. This paper is aimed to explore the relationship between personality traits and preferred conflict resolution style of future managers. Big five Personality Inventory model and Thomas Kilman conflict resolution instrument is used to assess the personality and conflict resolution style respectively. Big five personality traits are extroversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness and neuroticism. Conflict handling styles are compromising, competing, avoiding, accommodating and collaborating. A total of 50 management students were randomly selected for data collection. Description and correlation is used for analysis. Findings suggest that there is significant relationship between personality type and conflict handling style adopted by individuals. Implications of the study for future researchers as well as practical implications are discussed in the paper.

Keywords

Personality, Conflict, Conflict Resolution, Big Five Model and Thomas Kilmann Conflict Resolution Instrument

References
  1. Adler, S., and H. M. Weiss (1988), Recent developments in the study of personality and organizational behaviors, International review of industrial and organizational psychology, edition C L Cooper and I Robertson, 307-330,Wiley publications
  2. Antonioni, D. (1998). Relationship between the big five personality factors and conflict management styles. International Journal of Conflict Management, 9, 336-355.
  3. Antonioni, D (1999), Predicting approaches to conflict resolution from big five personality, Madison: University of Wisconsin.
  4. Barrick, R.M., & Mount, M.K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, 1–26.
  5. Barrick, R.M., Stewart, G.L., & Piotrowski, M. (2002). Personality and job performance: Test of the mediating effects of motivation among sales representatives. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 43–51
  6. Brahnam, S.D., Margavio, T.M., Hignite, M.A., Barrier, T.B. & Chin, J.M. (2005), A gender-based conflict resolution, Journal of management development, vol.24, pp. 197-208
  7. Blake, R.R. and Mouton, J.S. (1964), The Managerial Grid, Gulf, Houston, TX.
  8. Cattell, r. B 91947), Confirmation and clarification of primary personality factors, Psychometricka, 12: 197-220.
  9. Connolly, J., White, D., Stevens, R., & Burstein, L. (1987), Adolescent self reports of social activity: Assessment of stability and relations to social adjustment, Journal of Adolescence
  10. Costa, P.T. and McCrae, R.R. (1992), Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: the Personality Inventory, Psychological Assessment, Vol. 4, pp. 5-13.
  11. De Dreu CKW, Gelfand, MJ 2008. Conflict in the workplace: Sources, functions, and dynamics across multiple levels of analysis. In: CKW De Dreu, MJ Gelfand (Eds.): The Psychology of Conflict and Conflict Management in Organizations. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 3-54.
  12. Divya Goel, Dr Intezar Khan (2012) , Predictive Role of Personality on Conflict Management Strategies of Individuals in it Sector National Conference on Emerging Challenges for Sustainable Business 2012
  13. Deutsch, M. (1973), The Resolution of Conflict: Constructive and Destructive Processes, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.
  14. Gross, M. A., & Guerrero, L. K. (2000). Managing conflict appropriately and effectively: An application of the competence model to Rahim’s organizational conflict styles. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 11(3), 200-226.
  15. Herkenhoff, L. (2004). Culturally tuned emotional intelligence: an effective change management tool? Strategic Change, 13, 73 81.
  16. H. Park, D. Antonioni (2007), “Personality, reciprocity, and strength of conflict resolution strategy”, Journal of Research in Personality 41(2007) 110–125.
  17. Ishfaq Ahmed, Muhammad Musarrat Nawaz, Muhammad Zeeshan Shaukat and Ahmad Usman (2010) Personality Does Affect Conflict Handling Style: Study of Future Managers International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol.1, No.3, October, 2010 2010-023X
  18. Kilmann, R.H. & Thomas, K.W. (1975). Interpersonal conflict-handling behavior as reflections of Jungian personality dimensions. Psychological Reports, 37, 971-980.
  19. KING, N. (1999) Conflict management: personnel management. Business NH Magazine. vol. 16, no : 11, November, p.11.
  20. Kuhn T and Poole M S (2000), “Do Conflict Management Styles Affect Group Decision Making?”, Human Communication Research, Vol. 26, pp. 558-590.
  21. McCrae, R.R. and Costa, P.T. (1985), Updating Norman s adequacy taxonomy: Intelligence and personality dimensions in natural language and in questionnaires, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 49, pp. 710-21.
  22. McCrae, R.R. and Costa, P.T. (1987), Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers , Journal-of- Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 52, pp. 81-90.
  23. Moberg, P. J. (1998). Predicting conflict strategy with personality traits: Incremental validity and the five factor model. International Journal of Conflict Management, 9(3), 258-285.
  24. Moberg, P.J. (2001) Linking conflict strategy to the five-factor model: theoretical and empirical foundations, International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol.12, No.1, pp47-68.
  25. Mukhtar, S. & Habib, M.N. (2010), Private sector managers approach to conflict managerment: a study of relationship between conflict management styles and personality type, Interdisciplianty journal of contemporary research in business, Vol. 2, No.1, pp. 304-312.
  26. Myers, D (2007) Psychology, 8th Edition. New York, NY. Worth Publishing [26] Neuman, G., and J. Wright (1999), Team effectiveness: Beyond skills and cognitive ability, Journal of Applied Psychology, 84:376-89.
  27. Newstrom, John & Davis, Keith (1993). Organization Behavior: Human Behaviorat Work . New York: McGraw-Hill. (p. 293).
  28. Polkinghorn, B. & Byrne, S. (2001), Between war and peach: an examination of conflict management styles in four conflict zones, International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. 12, No.1, pp.23-46.
  29. Rahim, M. A. (1992). Managing conflict in organization (2nd edition). Westport, CT: Praeger.
  30. Rahim, M.A. (1986). Managing conflict in organizations. New York Prageger.
  31. Rahim MA, Magner (1995) Confirmatory factor analysis of the styles of handling interpersonal conflict: First-order factor model and its invariance across groups. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80:122–132
  32. Rahim, M.A. (2002). Toward a theory of managing organizational conflict. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 13(3), 206-235.
  33. Rahim, A.M.(1983d).Rahim organizational conflict inventories: Professional manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychology Press.
  34. Robbins, S.P. , Judge,T.A., & Sanghi, S. (2008), Organizational Behavior, Pearson education, India.
  35. Rokeach, M. (1973), The Nature of Human Values. New York, Free Press.
  36. Sabna Mukhtar, M. N. Habib (2010). Private Sector Managers Approach to Conflict Management: A Study of Relationships between Conflict Management Styles and Personality Type. Interdisciplinary journal of contemporary research in business, Vol 2, No 1
  37. Spector PE, JEx SM. 1998 Development of four self report measures of job stressors and strain; interpersonal conflict at work scale, organizational constraints scale, quantitative work load inventory, and physical symptoms inventory. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 3: 356-367
  38. Terhune, K.W. (1970), The effects of personality in cooperation and conflict; The structure of conflict, 193-234, New York Academic Press.
  39. Thomas, K. (1974), “Conflict and conflict management”, in Dunnette, M.D. (Ed.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Rand McNally, Chicago, IL, pp. 889- 935.
  40. Thomas, K.W. (2002), Introduction to Conflict Management: Improving Performance Using the TKI, CPP, Mountain View, CA.
  41. Thomas, K.W. and Kilmann, R.H. (1974), Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, Xicom, Tuxedo, NY.
  42. Thomas, K.W. and Kilmann, R.H. (1975), “The social desirability variable in organizational research: An alternative explanation for reported findings”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 741-752.
  43. Thomas, K.W. and Kilmann, R.H. (2002), Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, rev. ed., CPP, Mountain View, CA.
  44. Thomas, K.W. and Thomas, G.F. (2004), Introduction to Conflict and Teams, CPP, Inc, Mountain View, CA.
  45. Tidd S.T. & Friedman RA., (2002), conflict style and coping with role conflict: an extension of the uncertainty model of work stress, International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. 13, No.3, pp. 236-257.
  46. Tjosvold, D. (1998), Cooperative and competitive goal 76 approach to conflict: accomplishments and challenges, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Vol. 47, pp. 285-342.

Quick Links