Interpersonal Conflicts, Conflict Resolution Styles and Group Atmosphere In the Working Group

Konflikt je osjećaj borbe između dvoje ili više neovisnih pojedinaca koji smatraju da su prisutne nespojive razlike u vjerovanjima, vrijednostima i ciljevima ili koji se razlikuju u željama za samopoštovanjem, kontrolom i povezanosti (Wilmot i Hocker, 2011). Razlog prisutnosti konflikta ovisi o samoj prirodi konflikta, odnosno o tome radi li se o konfliktu zadatka, odnosa i/ili procesa koji imaju različite efekte na unutargrupne procese (Behfar i sur., 2011). Način na koji će se konflikt razriješiti ovisi o stilovima rješavanja konflikta koje će pojedinci unutar konflikta koristiti. Taksonomija stilova se razlikuje među teoretičarima, a među najpoznatijim je Thomasova (1976) koji smatra da se namjere grupe (kooperativnost i asertivnost) mogu klasificirati u pet vrsta rješavanja konflikta: natjecanje, izbjegavanje, prilagođavanje, suradnja i kompromis, te koje je Rahim (1983; prema Rahim i Magner, 1995) svrstao u dvije temeljne dimenzije: briga za sebe i briga za druge. Prisutnost konflikta, te stilovi rješavanja konflikta utječu na zaposlenikove percepcije organizacijske atmosfere koju čine četiri temeljne dimenzije: povjerenje, kohezija, otvorenost u komunikaciji i poštovanje (Jehn i Mannix, 2001). S obzirom da su grupe postale središte organizacija, a postaju sve raznolikije u brojnim dimenzijama (dob, spol, zvanje, staž) to ostavlja za sobom određene posljedice. Međutim, prisutni su kontradiktorni rezultati istraživanja po pitanju smjera utjecaja grupne različitosti na grupne procese u radnom okruženju. Stoga je cilj ovog istraživanja bio ispitati odnos između vrsta konflikata, stilova rješavanja konflikta te atmosfere s jedne strane, kao i njihov odnos s raznim varijablama (dob, spol, radni staţ) s druge strane. Kako bi se ispitali navedeni odnosi korišteni su sljedeći mjerni instrumenti: Skala vrsta konflikata, Upitnik stilova rješavanja konflikata, te Skala grupne atmosfere. Također, ispitana su psihometrijska svojstva za sva tri navedena mjerna instrumenta iz razloga što prije ovoga istraživanja nisu korišteni na hrvatskom uzorku, te su pouzdanosti čestica svih skala bile zadovoljavajuće, a dobivena je trofaktorska struktura kada su u pitanju vrste konflikta i stilovi rješavanja konflikta, te jednofaktorska struktura kada je u pitanju grupna atmosfera. Istraživanje je provedeno na 108 profesora sa tri različita integrirana Sveučilišta (Zadar, Pula i Dubrovnik) na području Republike Hrvatske (40 muškaraca i 68 žena). Regresijskom analizom dobiveno je da su konflikt odnosa i suradnja i kompromis značajni prediktori grupne atmosfere, odnosno što je rjeđe prisutan navedeni konflikt, a češće se koristi navedeni stil rješavanja konflikta, to će grupna atmosfera biti percipirana pozitivnije. Naposljetku, Pearsonovim koeficijentom korelacije utvrđeni su slični odnosi između stilova rješavanja konflikta te atmosfere i vrsta konflikta, dok su u ovom slučaju sve vrste konflikta bile u negativnoj korelaciji s atmosferom, odnosno njihova češća prisutnost znači negativniju procjenu atmosfere. Kada su u pitanju sociodemografske varijable uključene u istraživanje, dobiveno je da je staž u niskoj negativnoj korelaciji sa suradnjom i kompromisom, kao i izbjegavanjem i prilagođavanjem. Drugim riječima, osobe s više staža rjeđe koriste navedene stilove. Također, pokazalo se da je spol značajna determinanta korištenja kompromisa i suradnje, odnosno žene češće koriste dati stil u odnosu na muškarce.The conflict is a sense of struggle between two or more independent individuals who believe that there are irreconcilable differences present in beliefs, values and goals or who differ in preferences for self-esteem, control and connectivity (Wilmot and Hocker, 2011). The reason for the presence of the conflict depends on the nature of the conflict. Specifically, it can be task conflict, relationship conflict and/or process conflict which has different effect on intragroup processes (Behfar i sur., 2011). Conflict outcome depends on different conflict resolution styles engaged by individuals when dealing with conflict. Taxonomy of styles varies among theorists, but the most famous is the one introduced by Thomas (1976). In his reinterpretation of Blake and Mouton’s theory, Thomas believes that group intentions (such as cooperativeness and assertiveness) can be classified into five types of conflict resolution: competition, avoidance, adaptation, cooperation and compromise; which can be distributed along two fundamental dimensions: care for themselves and care for others (Rahim, 1983, as cited in Rahim and Magner, 1995). The presence of the conflict and styles of handling conflicts affect the employees' perception of organizational atmosphere based on four main dimensions: trust, cohesion, openness in communication and respect (Jehn i Mannix, 2001). Groups becoming central unit of the organizations and more diverse in a number of dimensions (age, sex, vocation, internship) has certain consequences. However, research results regarding direction of the group diversity impact on group processes in the workplace are inconsistent. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the type of conflict, conflict resolution styles and atmosphere, as well as their correlation with various variables (age, gender, internship). To investigate these relationships, the following measuring instruments were used: Process Conflict Scale, The Conflict Style Questionnaire and Group Atmosphere Scales. Also, psychometric properties were examined for the three measuring instruments because they haven't been used on the Croatian sample before this research, so it was obtained that reliability of items on every scale is good, three-factors structure on PCS as well as on CSQ, and one-factor structure on GAS. The study involved 108 professors (40 men and 68 women) from three different integrated Universities in Croatia (Zadar, Pula and Dubrovnik). Regression analysis shows that the relationship conflict and cooperation and compromise are significant predictors of the atmosphere, in the way that lowering perception of the atmosphere goes with the increasing of this conflicts and less frequency of using this style. Finally, Pearson's correlation coefficient shows similar relations between conflict resolution styles on the one side, and the types of conflicts and the atmosphere on the other side, but in this case every type of conflicts is in negative correlation with group atmosphere, it means that lowering perception of the atmosphere goes with the increasing of those conflicts. In terms of relationships with other variables included in this study, it was obtained low negative correlation between internship and cooperation and compromise, as well as avoidance and adaptation. It means, people with more experience rarely use those styles. Also, sex is obtained such a significant determinant of using compromise and cooperation, it means that women more often use this style than men