What We Know—and Don't Know—about Measuring Conflict

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between conflict styles as measured by the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II (ROCI-II) and conflict strategies as measured by the Organizational Communication Conflict Instrument (OCCI). It likewise focuses on the relationship between these conflict measures and three personality traits: Machiavellianism, self-esteem, and Protestant ethic. Only moderate correlations between these two instruments suggest a situation-specific approach to managing conflict. Other findings suggest that the context of the conflict is a critical variable in assessing conflict management behaviors. Of the three personality variables, only self-esteem revealed a pattern of significant results, and only Machiavellianism revealed a consistent pattern of nonsignificant results. This article calls for additional development of both the ROCI-II and the OCCI to enhance their reliabilities and for additional research to investigate further the relationship between individual differences and conflict behaviors.