CONFLICT MANAGEMENT The Psychology of conflict and conflict ...

34 DE DREU AND GELFAND
organizations employees may develop a shared tendency to approach and
manage conflict by assuming a passive stance (De Dreu et al., 2004). Identifying
the antecedents and consequences of conflict cultures in organizations
is an important area for future research.
sourCes of ConfliCt anD ConfliCt ManaGeMent
Earlier we noted a critical difference between resource-based conflict
of interest and identity-based value and relationship conflicts: the fact that
trade-offs and compromise solutions are unacceptable in the latter type
of conflict. Indeed, Druckman and colleagues (Druckman, 1994; Druckman
& Zechmeister, 1973) have shown repeatedly that negotiating a compromise
solution becomes much more difficult when interests are tied to
ideological values, and Harinck and colleagues (Harinck & De Dreu, 2004;
Harinck, De Dreu, & Van Vianen, 2000) have shown that participants in a
resource-conflict more easily switch from ineffective forcing to more effective
and constructive problem solving than participants in value conflicts.
In other words, resource-based conflicts of interest seem to lend themselves
better to problem solving and compromise than identity-based
value conflicts, and rights-based forms of forcing may lend themselves
better to identity-related value conflicts (Jehn & Bendersky, 2003).
Whereas negotiation and problem solving may not be suitable for identity-based
value conflicts, avoidance and withdrawal may be. Several
studies found that teams with value and relationship conflicts functioned
better to the extent that the members of these teams avoided these conflicts
and did not attempt to manage them proactively (De Dreu & Van
Vianen, 2001; Jehn, 1997; Murnighan & Conlon, 1991). In sociocognitive
conflicts, where some truth-finding and learning takes place, forcing and
persuasive bolstering one’s position may be a much more acceptable and
effective strategy than it is in resource-based conflicts of interest or in
identity-based value conflicts. Indeed, group-decision-making research
has shown time and time again that adding task-related dissent and devil’s
advocates to the team improves creativity, innovation, and decision
quality (Janis, 1972; Nemeth & Staw, 1989; also see Schulz-Hardt et al.,
chapter 5, this volume).
Cross-Cultural Variation in Conflict Management
As in other areas that we have reviewed, most of the typologies of
conflict management strategies were developed in the United States and
Western Europe. Compared with research on antecedents and outcomes
of conflict, however, there have been numerous studies of culture and conflict
management strategies, which have most typically examined cultural
differences in preferences for different strategies (see Gelfand & Brett, 2004;