Browsing by Subject "Interpersonal conflict"
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Item Examining the relationships between conflict tactics, social support, locus of control orientation, and daily hassles(Texas Tech University, 1989-08) Spicer, Serie JeanneThis study examined whether the type of conflict tactics used by a parent toward his/her child was related to locus of control orientation, frequency and intensity of daily hassles, and frequency and type of social support received. The influence of social desirability on parental report of intervention tactics used during parent-child conflict situations was also investigated. The subject population consisted of 112 Parents Anonymous members (94 females, 16 males, 2 unspecified). The parents completed a brief demographic questionnaire followed by five self-report measures: the Locus of Control Scale, the Hassles Scale, the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors, the Conflict Tactics Scales, and the Personal Reaction Inventory. Statistical analyses included the Pearson correlation coefficient, the analysis of variance, and the test. The results suggested that the use of reasoning tactics was significantly associated with the amount of social support received. Verbal aggression and violence were directly affected by the frequency of hassles. Locus of control orientation was found to have an inverse correlation with reasoning, a positive correlation with verbal aggression, and an interactive effect with intensity of hassles in predicting the use of violence tactics. The frequency and intensity of hassles were found to exert independent effects on conflict tactics, and provides a cogent argument for more refined definitions of stress in future research. Finally, high social desirability response sets resulted in an underreporting of conflict tactics and has important ramifications for future research.Item Factor analysis of the partner and stranger versions of the Conflict Tactics Scale(Texas Tech University, 2000-08) Ballinger, Buddy CThe Conflict Tactics Scale (GTS; Straus, 1979) is the most widely used instrument for measuring violence between romantic partners (Schafer, 1996). Responses to the CTS in studies of partner and parent-child violence have previously been factor analyzed with differing results. This study is the first to examine the factor structure of the stranger version of the CTS. CTS data were collected from 3,391 undergraduate introductory psychology students (1,116 men and 2,275 women). The responses of 1,770 of the participants (586 men and 1,184 women) to the to partner (self reported behavior toward partner), by partner (reports of partner's behaviors), to stranger (self reported behavior toward strangers), and by stranger (reports of stranger's behaviors) versions of the CTS were factor analyzed. In all but one of the exploratory factor analyses of the men's and women's data, 4 factors emerged (Physical Aggression, Severe Physical Aggression, Verbal- Psychological Aggression, and Reasoning), although there were minor differences between them in some of the specific items which loaded onto these factors. In the men's by stranger responses, 3 factors emerged: Reasoning-Conflict Avoidance, Verbal Aggression-Threats-Mild Violence, and Serious Physical Violence. The GTS responses of 1,621 of the participants (530 men and 1,091 women) were included in a series of confirmatory factor analyses, the results of which indicated that the factor structures obtained with the exploratory factor analyses were good matches for the data, with the exception of the men by stranger version which was an adequate fit. A subsample of the respondents (n = 1,291; 419 men and 872 women) also completed the Short Michigan Alcohol Screening Test. Chi-square analyses suggested that alcohol abuse related differently to partner and stranger violence. Male alcohol abusers were more likely to engage in stranger violence perpetration, but not partner violence perpetration. Male alcohol abusers were also more likely to be the victims of stranger violence. The only significant relationship between alcohol and violence for women was that women alcohol abusers were more likely to perpetrate verbal aggression and violence toward partners. These results provided evidence of different underlying psychological dynamics for partner and stranger violence. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research and adaptations of the CTS are presented.Item Interactive construction of dispute narratives in mediated conflict talk(2008-12) Stewart, Katherine Anne, Ph. D.; Maxwell, Madeline M.In this dissertation, I provide a discourse and narrative analysis of actual conflict talk episodes from mediation sessions that took place in a university conflict resolution center. Specifically, qualitative analytical methods are applied to five videotaped actual mediation sessions to (1) identify examples of the adversarial narrative pattern, pervasive in the literature, and (2) closely analyze the discourse in the cases where a different narrative pattern emerges to understand how these differing patterns are interactively co-constructed by the disputants and mediators. The literature in many fields contains research and theorizing on conflict, narrative, and numerous interaction variables in interpersonal conflict talk. However, the study of actual discourse within conflict events is relatively recent. Little empirical research explicates the situated communicative practices and mechanisms by which interlocutors interactively and emergently construct, resist, reproduce, and transform dispute narratives to produce outcomes consonant with their interests. This study applies microanalytic discourse analysis and narrative theory to examine how dispute narratives are interactively created in conflict talk episodes through work at the utterance level, including the manner in which narratives can be intertextually transformed through the interaction process. The findings herein illuminate the emergent nature of dispute narratives and some of the communicative practices and mechanisms disputants and mediators use to construct them. This study contributes to an understanding of the role of narratives in conflict talk and how narratives can be interactively constructed, co-constructed, challenged, and transformed in the course of a conflict talk event.Item The effects of diversity on intragroup conflict and performance in the U.S. Army Reserve Officer['s] Training Corps (ROTC)(Texas Tech University, 2002-05) McGurk, DennisResearch on the effects of diversity on intragroup conflict and group performance has yielded mixed results. Recent research has shown diversity to be detrimental to group performance when it is based on superficial aspects of the group members such as gender, age or ethnicity but beneficial when diversity is based on members' task relevant aspects such as education or work experience (e.g., Jehn, Northcraft & Neale, 1999; Pelled, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1999). Intragroup conflict has been found to be detrimental to group performance when the conflict is focused on emotional interactions among group members but beneficial when the conflict is focused on different opinions of how to solve the groups' problems (e.g., Jehn et al, 1999; Pelled et al, 1999). However, most of the studies on diversity, conflict and performance have been conducted in business setting and the findings have not been evaluated in other settings. The current study investigated the effects of social category diversity, academic ability diversity, prior military experience diversity and value diversity on intragroup conflict (relationship, task and process) and performance in groups composed of ROTC cadets during Advanced Camp 2001, a five-week assessment course for Army cadets. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that for this sample, there were only two factors, relationship and task conflict. Regression analyses revealed that value diversity was positively related to intragroup conflict and social category diversity was positively related to group performance.Item The influence of family communication patterns and launching on parent-adolescent conflict management strategies(Texas Tech University, 1999-05) Wrench, Jason StevenNot availableItem The use of defense mechanisms in partner violent college men(Texas Tech University, 2002-08) Carter, Stacy R.Physical violence between men and women in intimate relationships is a significant problem in our society (Straus & Gelles, 1986; Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). An explanation for partner violence is not agreed upon in the literature. While some literature suggests that partner violent men use more primitive defense mechanisms than other men (e.g.. Elbow, 1977; Dutton, 1998), a direct comparison of defense mechanisms of men who are violent to their partners and other men has not yet been made. Alcohol use problems have been found to be associated with partner violence in some studies (Schumacher, Feldbau-Kohn, Slep, & Heyman, 2000), but other studies report an inconsistent relationship between alcohol use and partner violence (Kantor & Straus, 1987; Cunradi, Caetano, Clark, & Schafer, 1999). Similarly, studies have found that men who are violent toward their partners and are in treatment for spouse abuse have antisocial features (e.g., Beasley & Stoltenberg, 1992), but studies of men in community samples have found no personality differences between men who are violent toward their partners and other men. The present study investigated whether violent college men (those who have hit, kicked, punched, or otherwise hurt their partner at some point in the past year) differ from nonviolent college men on the level of defenses they use, alcohol use, or antisocial features. Characteristics of 30 partner violent college men were compared to the characteristics of 30 nonviolent college men. Defense mechanisms were identified based on responses to 6 Thematic Apperception Test (Murray, 1943) cards, scored using the Defense Mechanisms Manual (Cramer, 1991a) as well as responses on the Defense Style Questionnaire-40 (Andrews, Singh, & Bond; 1993). Alcohol related problems and antisocial features were assessed based on responses to three scales (MacAndrew Alcoholism scale-revised, Antisocial Practices, and Psychopathic Deviancy) of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989). When compared to nonviolent college men, it was expected that partner violent college men would use primitive defense mechanisms (i.e., denial, projection) rather than mature defense mechanisms (i.e., identification), have more alcohol related problems, and have more antisocial features. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to compare the groups. The findings did not support the hypotheses. No differences were found between partner violent men and nonviolent men on the use of defense mechanisms, alcohol related problems, or antisocial features.