Social Conflict Avoidance: Is It a Unique Construct

78 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1998.To test the uniqueness of Social Conflict Avoidance (SCA), it was compared with nonassertiveness, shyness, low masculinity, and Self-defeating Personality Disorder. These four variables correlated highly with SCA in Brock (1994). Participants were 222 undergraduate students (110 male, 112 female) at a large Midwestern university. Both hierarchical multiple regression techniques and correlational analyses were used to demonstrate SCA's independence. In Step 1, SCA at Time 2 was predicted by nonassertiveness, shyness, low masculinity, and Self-defeating Personality Disorder. In Step 2, SCA at Time 1 was added to the equation as a fifth predictor of SCA at Time 2. SCA was found to have unique variance over and above that of the other four variables of interest. SCA also manifested a divergent correlational pattern from the other four variables. Most unique to SCA was its high relationship to self-image variables, (i.e., self-esteem, self-acceptance, and self-consciousness). SCA also proved highly related to Fear of Negative Evaluation and Fear of Appearing Incompetent. These data point to the internal world of the social conflict avoider as being most crucial in distinguishing SCA from other related variables. A behavioral rating technique also yielded behavioral examples (e.g., appearing nervous, laughter, less looking at the other party, a closed body posture, and less talk of achievement) differentiating high SCA individuals from low SCA individuals. These behavioral examples were also found to vary depending on the genders comprising the dyad.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD