CONFLICT MANAGEMENT The Psychology of conflict and conflict ...

10 DE DREU AND GELFAND
C-Choice
Row Player B
NC-Choice
C-Choice
Column Player A
When we adopt social dilemmas as representative of interdependencies
within organizations, we limit ourselves to two levels of analysis:
(a) the individual and group level, when we see participants as individuals
choosing between individual and group interests, and (b) the group
and the organization level, when we see participants as groups choosing
between group and organization interests (e.g., Wit & Kerr, 2002). This
obvious shortcoming can be tackled in two ways. First, we may conceive
of organizations, and the interdependence structures therein, as “nested
social dilemmas” (e.g., Polzer, Stewart, & Simmons, 1999; Wit & Kerr,
2002). Second, we may identify the way interdependencies within as well
as between groups are structured and drive behavior (Bornstein, 2003).
We discuss each possibility in more detail.
Nested Social Dilemmas. In nested social dilemmas, three levels are
identified: the (a) individual, (b) group, and (c) organization levels. An
example, based on Wit and Kerr (2002), is the situation in which an R&D
3
3 0
0
4 1
NC-Choice
fiGure 1.1. schematic representation of a two-player social dilemma.
4
1