Intragroup conflict and subjective performance within group discussion — A multiphasic examination using a hierarchical linear model —

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of intragroup conflict and management behavior during group discussion on members' subjective performance. Sixty-eight undergraduate students, organized into 17 groups of four, were asked to complete a group task within 18 minutes. Substantive conflict were measured at three time periods; prior to, midway, and the end of the discussion. Participants were asked to evaluate perceived intragroup conflict and management behavior from midway to the end of the discussion. The result revealed that substantive conflict would change as discussion went on, and the conflict at the end was related to lower subjective performance. Higher levels of relationship conflict and avoidant management behavior lead to lower subjective performance, while integrated management behavior lead to higher subjective performance. The interaction effect of the two kinds of perceived intragroup conflict was significant, implying that when task conflict is low, low levels of relationship conflict is related to higher subjective performance, but no such differences exist when task conflict is high. The importance of multiple measurements of intragroup conflict and multilevel exploration were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved). (journal abstract)