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Journal Article 1: Interdependence

Halevy, N., & Katz, J. J. (2013). Conflict templates: Thinking through interdependence. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22, 217–224.

Abstract: Subjective perceptions of outcome interdependence play a critical role in conflict situations. People who subscribe to different beliefs about outcome interdependence in conflict essentially play different games, with different sets of rules. Because they think they are playing different games, they experience conflict differently, behave differently, and obtain different outcomes for themselves and their counterparts. In our research, we investigated how different perceptions of outcome interdependence relate to individuals’ worldviews, motivational goals, conflict behavior, and social relations. We found that a small set of recurring patterns captures how most people think about their outcome interdependence in conflict. These subjective perceptions of outcome interdependence--that is, conflict templates--predicted conflict behavior (e.g., unethical negotiation behavior), social relations (e.g., workplace conflict and ostracism), and sociopolitical attitudes (e.g., national identification, right-wing authoritarianism) in various conflicts. Our research also shows that these perceptions can be altered by manipulating the accessibility of different motivational goals. Knowing people’s conflict templates aids in predicting the course and outcomes of their interactions and provides a simple yet powerful tool for effective conflict management.

Journal Article 2: Team Conflict and Performance

Kostoppoulos, K. C., & Bozionelos, N. (2011). Team exploratory and exploitative learning: Psychological safety, task conflict, and team performance. Group & Organization Management, 36, 385–415.

Abstract: This study conceptualized exploratory and exploitative learning as distinct team-level activities, constructed measures of them, and examined their relationships with psychological safety, task conflict, and team performance. Structural equation analysis in a sample of 142 innovation project teams indicated that psychological safety was linearly and nonlinearly related to team exploitative and exploratory learning, respectively; whereas task conflict positively moderated the relationship between psychological safety and exploitative learning. Furthermore, exploratory and exploitative learning were additively related to team performance, as rated by team managers, and mediated its relationship with psychological safety. The findings contribute to understanding how and under what conditions organizational teams engage in exploratory and exploitative learning to maximize their performance.