Conflict expression describes the way people convey opposition across six types (debate, argue, tease, dismiss, complain, and disguise). The concept has garnered increased attention among management scholars, but experiential exercises to guide instruction are needed. This paper presents an engaging activity that encourages participants to experience the six conflict expression types. We provide guidelines for implementing the exercise and assess its effectiveness for in-person and online courses.
AshkanasyN. M.KayA. A. (2023). Mindfulness and emotion: A five-level analysis. Journal of Management & Organization, 29, 406–424.
2.
BehfarK.KimY.WeingartL. R.BenderskyC.BearJ.TodorovaG.JehnK. A. (2017). Measuring conflict expression: A complementary approach to understanding conflict. Annual conference of the Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research (INGroup).
3.
BergmannT.VolkemaR. (1994). Issues, behavioral responses and consequences in interpersonal conflicts. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 15, 467–471.
4.
BrykmanK. M.O’NeillT. A. (2023). How conflict expressions affect recipients’ conflict management behaviors. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 174, 104–208.
5.
ColquittJ.LepineJ. A.WessonM. J. (2020). Organizational behavior: Improving performance and commitment in the workplace (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
6.
DeutschM. (2002). Social psychology’s contributions to the study of conflict resolution. Negotiation Journal, 18, 307–320.
7.
JehnK. A. (1995). A multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of intragroup conflict. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40, 256–282.
KruegerK. L.DiabesM. A.WeingartL. R. (2022). The psychological experience of intragroup conflict. Research in Organizational Behavior, 42, 100165.
11.
McShaneS.GlinowM. A. V. (2020). Organizational behavior (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
12.
OehlerP. J.Stumpf-WollersheimJ.WelpeI. M.ObstfeldD. (2021). Beyond the truce: How conflict affects teams’ decisions whether to enact routines or creative projects. Industrial and Corporate Change, 30, 799–822.
13.
PfefferJ.SalancikG. R. (1978). The external control of organizations: A resource dependence perspective. Harper & Row.
14.
RapoportA. (1960). Fights, games, and debates. University of Michigan Press.
15.
RobbinsS. P.JudgeT. A. (2018). Organizational behavior (18th ed.). Pearson Education.
16.
ShahbazW.ParkerJ. (2022). Workplace mindfulness: An integrative review of antecedents, mediators, and moderators. Human Resource Management Review, 32, 100849.
17.
SheppesG.ScheibeS.SuriG.GrossJ. J. (2011). Emotion-regulation choice. Psychological Science, 22, 1391–1396.
18.
SpataroS. E.BlochJ. (2018). “Can you repeat that?” Teaching active listening in management education. Journal of Management Education, 42, 168–198.
19.
ThomasK. W.KilmannR. H. (1974, 2007). Thomas Kilmann conflict mode instrument. Xicom, a subsidiary of CPP, Inc.
20.
TodorovaG.BearJ. B.WeingartL. R. (2014). Can conflict be energizing? A study of task conflict, positive emotions, and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99, 451–467.
21.
TodorovaG.GohK. T.WeingartL. R. (2022). The effects of conflict type and conflict expression intensity on conflict management. International Journal of Conflict Management, 33, 245–272.
22.
TsaiM.-H. (2022). Can conflict cultivate collaboration? The positive impact of mild versus intense task conflict via perceived openness rather than emotions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000448
23.
Uhl-BienM.PiccoloR. F.SchermerhornJ. R.Jr. (2020). Organizational behavior. John Wiley & Sons.
24.
WeingartL. R.BehfarK. J.BenderskyC.TodorovaG.JehnK. A. (2015). The directness and oppositional intensity of conflict expression. Academy of Management Review, 40, 235–262.