Previous research (Testa et al 2014, Mutz 2015) finds that conflict orientation—individuals’ psychological predisposition towards conflict--condition Americans’ attitudes in the face of political disagreement. However, little research has been done into how conflict orientation influences the ways in which people engage in conversation that has the potential to become uncomfortable or contentious. We argue that conflict orientation has a significant impact on the way college students discuss politics: students who are comfortable with conflict will be more likely to fully engage in a contentious conversation, offer strong opinions, and choose a side of the debate. In order to test this hypothesis, we conducted a series of interviews with undergraduate students about their thoughts and ideas regarding political incivility and campus free speech. While our findings do not support our hypotheses, they do offer positive evidence for the ability of deliberation and small-group conversation to bring both the conflict-avoidant and conflict-approaching into the political conversation.