A theory-based measure of conflict management strategies in the workplace

Conflict management influences individual wellbeing, group performance and organizational effectiveness. This research examined the psychometric quali ties of two versions of the newly developed test for conflict handling. The lean version (Study 1 and 2) included problem solving, forcing, yielding a nd avoiding as distinct conflict management strategies, and the expanded ve rsion (Study 3) also included compromising. A negotiation study (Study 1) s howed substantial convergence between self-reports, opponent-reports and ob server rated behavior for problem solving, forcing and yielding, but not fo r avoiding. In Study 2 and Study 3 the psychometric properties were examine d of the lean and the expanded version, respectively. Confirmatory factor a nalyses revealed good to excellent psychometric qualities of both versions of the scale. We conclude that the scale is a parsimonious flexible and val id instrument to assess conflict management strategies at work. Copyright ( C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.