Conflict Management in Groups that Work in Two Different Communication Contexts: Face-To-Face and Computer-Mediated Communication  

Oleh:

Zornoza, Ana ; Ripoll, Pilar ; Peiró, José M.

Jenis: Article from Bulletin/Magazine
Dalam koleksi: Small Group Research vol. 33 no. 5 (2009), page 481-508.
Fulltext: 481.pdf (133.63KB)

Isi artikel

The aim of this study is to test the differences in quality and frequency of conflict management behavior as a function of the interaction between task and communication medium, and practice time in continuing groups that work over two different media: computer mediated communication (CMC) and face to face communication (FTF). Conflict management behavior is studied through observed behavior and categorized by experts. Two conflict management behavior categories are differentiated: positive and negative conflict management behavior. A laboratory experiment was carried out comparing 12 groups of 4 members each, working over two communication media (6 groups FTF and 6 groups over CMC). Groups performed three types of tasks (idea-generation tasks, intellective tasks, and mixedmotive tasks) during weekly sessions over a 2-month period. Results obtained for the ideageneration task show that negative conflict management is significantly higher inCMCthan in FTF. For the groups working on intellective tasks, positive conflict management is significantly higher in FTF than in CMC. Conversely, negative conflict management is significantly higher in CMC than in FTF. No significant differences appear in positive or in negative conflict management on the mixed-motive task. The effect of time on conflict management behaviors in both communication media, and for intellective tasks, does not follow the hypothesized direction. In fact, in CMC, positive conflict management decrease

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