Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, Vol 27(4), Dec 2023, 257-275; doi:10.1037/gdn0000197
Objective: When conflict occurs in teams, recent research has found that conflict occurs more among members than it does holistically at the team level. In the present research, we adopt a network-based view of team conflict, focusing on an individual’s centrality (representing the strength of conflict ties between team members) in their task and relationship conflict networks. This addresses a lower level of conflict in teams than has been typical in much previous research, which treats it as a collective property of the team. Moreover, we focus not on team-level outcomes; rather, we propose that individual-level outcomes such as learning, satisfaction, and peer-rated performance can vary as a function of one’s network ties. Method: We surveyed 190 engineering students, who were organized into 52 teams and engaged in a semester-long course. We measured conflict perceptions through dyad, round-robin ratings, and then related these ratings to team members’ contributions, learning, satisfaction, and peer-rated performance. Hypotheses were tested using an individual-level path analysis model. Results: We find that the effects of network centrality on outcomes are complex and depend on conflict type (task vs. relationship conflict), in-degree versus out-degree centrality (e.g., whether the conflict is perceived by others or oneself), and whether the outcome is proximal (e.g., learning and satisfaction) or distal (e.g., peer-rated performance). Conclusion: Separating conflict actors into members who are central in their team’s in-degree and out-degree networks and examining their individual outcomes contributes a unique theoretical perspective, which facilitates several important recommendations for future research and practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)