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TYPES OF CONFLICT

PROPORTIONAL AND PERCEPTUAL CONFLICT

Proportional conflict occurs when team members have different ideas about the amount and type of conflict that exists in their group. In any team, for example, there may be differing actual levels of relationship, task, and process conflict, and the relative levels of such conflicts are crucial aspects for team leaders to understand because they affect task performance.41 Proportional conflict composition describes the relation- ship among the three types of conflict (task, relationship, and process) as the level of each type of conflict proportional to the other two and to the overall level of conflict within the group, rather than as an absolute level or amount of any one type. For example, a team that experiences a moderate amount of constructive task conflict and no other conflict (no relationship or process conflict) will have a different experience than will members of another group with not only the same amount of task con- flict but also a high proportional level of relationship conflict.42 In the former group, members should experience less stress, less distraction, and less anger, which are fre- quent consequences of relationship conflict43 as compared to members of the group containing more moderate levels of task and relationship conflict. Indeed, teams with a high proportion of task conflict experience a higher level of team member commit- ment, cohesiveness, individual performance, group performance, and member satis- faction. In contrast, a high proportion of relationship conflict is related negatively to member commitment, cohesiveness, individual performance, group performance, and member satisfaction.

Perceptual conflict refers to the extent to which there is agreement or a lack thereof, in terms of whether team members perceive conflict. Perceptual conflict composition is the degree to which each person in a team perceives levels of conflict differently from other team members.44 Specifically, each member’s perceptions of conflict are compared to all other members’ perceptions of the group. For example: Two team members in an eight-person team perceive arguments in the group pertain- ing to the task, while the other six members do not detect such conflict.45 These two members have a larger perceptual conflict composition score than those members who believe that there is no task conflict. A study of 51 workgroups revealed that differences in the perceptions of conflict decreased team performance and creativity in teams.46

41Jehn, K., & Chatman, J. A. (2000). Reconceptualizing conflict: Proportional and relational conflict. International Journal of Conflict Management, 11(1), 51–69. 42Ibid.

44Jehn, K., & Chatman, J. A. (2000). Reconceptualizing conflict: Proportional and relational conflict. International Journal of Conflict Management, 11(1), 51–69. 45Ibid. 46Jehn, K. A., Rispens, S., & Thatcher, S. M. B. (2010). The effects of conflict asymmetry on work group and individual outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 53(3), 596–616.

43Amason, A. (1996). Distinguishing the effects of functional and dysfunctional conflict on strategic decision making: Resolving a paradox for top management teams. Academy of Management Journal, 39(1), 123–148; Jehn, K. (1994). Enhancing effectiveness: An investigation of advantages and disadvantages of value based intragroup conflict. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 5, 223–238; Jehn, “Multimethod examination of intragroup conflict,” p. 202.

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