Conflict across representational gaps: Threats to and opportunities for improved communication

Decoding cultural conflicts

As pioneers of the Carnegie Perspective recognized, conflicts in organizations can exist even when incentives of all parties are aligned. These can often be traced to differences in cognitions such as beliefs and values, which are foundational components of any given culture. This paper refines the operationalization of cultural clashes by identifying differences in beliefs about causality ("which actions cause which outcomes") and morality (in the broad sense of "what is evaluated as desirable") as two fundamental sources of conflict. In our first study, we demonstrate empirically that participants recognize and distinguish between these two sources of conflict. In our second study, we test the hypotheses that while misalignments in either causal or moral codes increase observers' perceptions of relationship conflict, negative affect, likelihood of avoidance, and lower perceived likelihood of conflict resolution, the effects are stronger for misalignments in moral codes than misalignments in causal codes and strongest when both causal and moral codes are misaligned. We test these arguments using vignette-based experimental studies. Our findings support our hypotheses. This research has significant implications for the understanding of conflict dynamics within and beyond organizational contexts. By recognizing the pivotal role of cultural differences in shaping conflicts, organizations and decision-makers can better anticipate, manage, and potentially preempt such conflicts.

Harnessing the benefits of diversity to address socio-environmental governance challenges

Solving complex problems, from biodiversity conservation to reducing inequality, requires large scale collective action among diverse stakeholders to achieve a common goal. Research relevant to meeting this challenge must model the interaction of stakeholders with diverse cognitive capabilities and the complexity of the problem faced by stakeholders to predict the success of collective action in various contexts. Here, we build a model from first principles of cognitive abilities, diversity, and socio-environmental complexity to identify the sets of conditions under which groups most effectively engage in collective action to solve governance problems. We then fit the model to small groups, U.S. states, and countries. Our model illustrates the fundamental importance of understanding the interaction between cognitive abilities, diversity, and the complexity of socio-environmental challenges faced by stakeholders today. Our results shed light on the ability of groups to solve complex problems and open new avenues of research into the interrelationship between cognition, institutions, and the environments in which they co-evolve.

The dynamic nature of interpersonal conflict and psychological strain in extreme work settings

Humanity will mount interplanetary exploration missions within the next two decades, supported by a growing workforce operating in isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) conditions of space. How will future space workers fare in a closed social world while subjected to persistent stressors? Using a sample of 32 participants operating in ICE conditions over the course of 30-45 days, we developed and tested a dynamic model of conflict and strain. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, we investigated reciprocal relationships between different forms (i.e., task and relationship) of conflict, and between conflict and strain. Results demonstrated evidence for a resource threat feedback loop as current-day task conflict predicted next-day relationship conflict and current-day relationship conflict predicted next-day task conflict. Additionally, results indicated support for a resource loss feedback loop as current-day relationship conflict predicted next-day strain, and current-day strain predicted next-day relationship conflict. Moreover, we found that job conditions affected these associations as current-day relationship conflict was more associated with next-day task conflict when next-day workload was high, but not when next-day workload was low. Similarly, current-day relationship conflict was more associated with next-day strain when next-day workload was high; however, this association decreased when next-day workload was low. Therefore, the results suggest that workload plays a critical role in weakening the effect of these spirals over time, and suggests that targeted interventions (e.g., recovery days) can help buffer against the negative impact of relationship conflict on strain and decrease the extent that relationship conflict spills over into task disputes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Creativity: The Effectiveness of Teacher-Student Conflict

This study examines the effectiveness of different types of teacher–student conflict in promoting students’ creativity in universities. Previous studies mainly focused on the negative effects of conflict; few examined its positive effects. Teacher–student conflict in university classes can take many forms; however, there are no clear definitions of the various types of such conflict. This study classified teacher–student conflict as understanding conflict, process conflict, and relationship conflict, and we used this classification to extend prior research by revealing the beneficial impacts of teacher–student conflict on students’ creativity. We empirically examined the relationship between teacher–student conflict and students’ creativity. The hypotheses were supported by using data from questionnaires completed by 2009 students at 17 American universities. We then conducted a hierarchical regression analysis of the data using structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that understanding conflict and process conflict had significant positive effects on students’ creativity, whereas relationship conflict had a significant negative effect on students’ creativity. This study thus revealed the positive effect of teacher–student conflict in university classes and suggests encouraging conflict (understanding conflict and process conflict) as a unique teaching method to stimulate students’ creativity.

The Theory and Measurement of Expertise-Based Problem Solving in Organizational Teams: Revisiting Demonstrability

The current paper revisits and builds upon task demonstrability, which defines the criteria necessary for groups to choose a correct response if any member prefers that response. We identify boundary conditions of the current conceptualization of task demonstrability with respect to its use in understanding modern organizational teams. Specifically, we argue that, in its current form, task demonstrability is not optimally suited to studying ongoing teams in which member expertise varies and teams work to complete complex multifaceted tasks. To address this issue, we provide a revisited perspective on demonstrability. We specify the nomological network of revisited demonstrability and recast each of its criteria in a form that preserves the original intent of the construct, but has broader applicability, particularly to organizational contexts. We then discuss theoretical implications and managerial applications of the construct. Finally, noting that there is no standard assessment tool for demonstrability (original or revisited), we develop and validate a measure to facilitate future research.

How Diverse Task Experience Affects Both Group and Subsequent Individual Performance

Task demonstrability defines the criteria that, when met, facilitate the effective exchange of knowledge within a problem-solving group. The extent to which those criteria are met should vary as a consequence of the relevant experiences that members have prior to entering the group. We investigate whether group members' ability to coordinate with one another is facilitated by their prior task-related experiences. Participants worked individually, then in groups, and then individually again to complete a series of circuit board assembly tasks. Groups in which all members had pre-task experience performed significantly better than groups with even a single member lacking task experience, or individuals. Mediation analysis showed that prior task experience helps group members coordinate by improving task demonstrability. Group experience composition also affected post-group individual performance. Groups with diverse task experience produced individuals who performed better solo but only after working on an unstructured task that allowed for greater exploration.

The effects of climate change on Baltic salmon: Framing the problem in collaboration with expert stakeholders

In the Baltic Sea region, salmon are valued for the ecological, economic, and cultural benefits they provide. However, these fish are threatened due to historical overfishing, disease, and reduced access to spawning rivers. Climate change may pose another challenge for salmon management. Therefore, we conducted a problem-framing study to explore the effects climate change may have on salmon and the socio-ecological system they are embedded within. Addressing this emerging issue will require the cooperation of diverse stakeholders and the integration of their knowledge and values in a contentious management context. Therefore, we conducted this problem framing as a participatory process with stakeholders, whose mental models and questionnaire responses form the basis of this study. By framing the climate change problem in this way, we aim to provide a holistic understanding of the problem and incorporate stakeholder perspectives into the management process from an early stage to better address their concerns and establish common ground. We conclude that considering climate change is relevant for Baltic salmon management, although it may not be the most pressing threat facing these fish. Stakeholders disagree about whether climate change will harm or benefit salmon, when it will become a relevant issue in the Baltic context, and whether or not management efforts can mitigate any negative impacts climate change may have on salmon and their fishery. Nevertheless, by synthesizing the stakeholders' influence diagrams, we found 15 themes exemplifying: (1) how climate change may affect salmon, (2) goals for salmon management considering climate change, and (3) strategies for achieving those goals. Further, the stakeholders tended to focus on the riverine environment and the salmon life stages occurring therein, potentially indicating the perceived vulnerability of these life stages to climate change. Interestingly, however, the stakeholders tended to focus on traditional fishery management measures, like catch quotas, to meet their goals for these fish considering climate change. Further, social variables, like "politics," "international cooperation," and "employment" comprised a large proportion of the stakeholders' diagrams, demonstrating the importance of these factors for salmon management.

Social and general intelligence improves collective action in a common pool resource system

On a planet experiencing global environmental change, the governance of natural resources depends on sustained collective action by diverse populations. Engaging in such collective action can only build upon the foundation of human cognition in social-ecological settings. To help understand this foundation, we assess the effect of cognitive abilities on the management of a common pool resource. We present evidence that two functionally distinct cognitive abilities, general and social intelligence, improve the ability of groups to manage a common pool resource. Groups high in both forms of intelligence engage in more effective collective action that is also more consistent, despite social or ecological change. This result provides a foundation for integrating the effects of cognitive abilities with other dimensions of cognitive diversity to explain when groups will and will not sustainably govern natural resources.