Minority dissent, social acceptance and conflict transformation in multiparty systems

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate the role of minority dissent (MD) as an antecedent for task (TC) and relationship conflict (RC) in groups engaged in multiparty collaboration. The authors hypothesized that MD triggers both TC and RC and that the association between MD and RC is mediated by TC. Moreover, the authors hypothesized that the positive association between MD and RC is attenuated by social acceptance, while the positive association between TC and RC is attenuated by trust. Design/methodology/approach The authors have tested the hypotheses in 36 groups comprising in total 145 professionals that attended a two-day workshop on working across organizational boundaries and who filled in three surveys during a multiparty simulation. The authors used multilevel mediation analyses to test the hypotheses. Findings The results generally supported the role of MD as an antecedent for both TC and RC as well as the mediating role of TC in the relationship between MD and RC. The attenuating role of social acceptance in the relationship between MD and RC was fully supported, while the attenuating role of trust in the relationship between TC and RC was not supported. Research limitations/implications This study is based on a rather small sample and used a cross-lagged data collection design, and no causal claims can be derived from the findings. Behavioral multiparty simulations create a realistic context in which the authors investigate the dynamics of conflict transformation and explore the interplay of MD, TC and RC. Social implications As nowadays, multiparty systems are engaged in dealing with important societal challenges and because RC is detrimental for collaborative effectiveness, the results have important implications for facilitating effective collaboration in such complex systems. Originality/value This study makes an important contribution to the literature on conflict in multiparty systems by showing that as an antecedent of intragroup conflict, MD can have both a beneficial as well as a detrimental impact on the conflict dynamics of multiparty systems. It points out the importance of social acceptance as a buffer against the detrimental role of MD.

Jokes and quarrels: a cross-cultural investigation of humor and conflict transformation in groups

“…The second set of theoretical implications pertain to the multilevel investigation of conflict transformation in groups. In line with previous research that investigated intragroup conflict as a multilevel phenomenon (De Wit et al , 2012; Korsgaard et al , 2008; Curșeu and Schruijer, 2023), our results show that task and process conflict are key antecedents of relationship conflict. This pattern of conflict transformation is significant at the within as well as between group levels, pointing toward different mechanisms that can explain conflict transformation in groups.…”

“…Second, we address the need for multilevel investigations of conflict transformation (De Wit et al , 2012; Curşeu and Schruijer, 2023) and show how the task and process conflicts engendered by liberating and controlling humor can further promote relationship conflicts. These results are in line with past research on conflict escalation (Curșeu and Schruijer, 2023; Greer et al , 2008).…”

“…On the one hand, social perception could explain the within group effects, in such a way that individual differences in social sensitivity could lead to asymmetric perceptions of task and process disagreements that, in turn, shape the perceptions of relational frictions. On the other hand, group level factors, that pertain to the dynamics of intragroup conflict, such as emotional processing (Yang and Mossholder, 2004; Van Den Berg et al , 2014; Ullah, 2022), trust (Simons and Peterson, 2000) and social acceptance (Curşeu and Schruijer, 2023), can explain the significant between group differences in conflict transformation patterns. Literature to date has extensively explored the between group effects and showed relatively less attention to individual factors that can shape the perception and transformation of conflict in groups.…”

“…One explanation for this effect is the misinterpretation of task conflicts as personal attacks (Simons and Peterson, 2000), where disagreements over the task might signal interpersonal incompatibilities and lead to interpersonal frictions. Other studies focused on the emotional nature of conflict and argued that the negative emotions experienced during task and process conflict lead to their escalation into relationship frictions (Ullah, 2022; Curşeu et al , 2012; Curşeu and Schruijer, 2023). Therefore, even though liberating humor might trigger task conflicts, depending on a number of moderating factors (e.g.…”

“…While task conflict and relationship conflict are conceptually different, literature to date shows that, in general, they are positively correlated (De Wit et al, 2012). In addition, both longitudinal and experimental studies on conflict transformation have reported evidence for the escalation of task conflict into relationship conflict (Pluut and Curs eu, 2013;Curs , eu and Schruijer, 2023;Martínez-Moreno et al, 2012). One explanation for this effect is the misinterpretation of task conflicts as personal attacks (Simons and Peterson, 2000), where disagreements over the task might signal interpersonal incompatibilities and lead to interpersonal frictions.…”