Referent Role and Styles of Handling Interpersonal Conflict

Abstract This study explored the relationship between referent role (superior, subordinate, and peer) and the styles of handling interpersonal conflict (integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising). These styles were measured by the Rahim (1983c) Organizational Conflict Inventory-II with a national random sample of managers (N = 1,219). The results of a multiple discriminant analysis indicated that the respondents were mainly obliging with superiors, integrating with subordinates, and compromising with peers. To a lesser extent, they were compromising and dominating with superiors and avoiding with subordinates.

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