Predicting conflict acts using behavior and style measures

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to compare style and behavior-focused individual difference measures in their ability to uniquely predict naturally occurring conflict acts. Design/methodology/approach Primary participants (and a friend of their choosing) completed a style measure and a behavior-focused measure about the primary participants and reported on the occurrence of a variety of conflict actions over a 60-day period. Findings For self-ratings and friend ratings, both the style measure and the behavior-focused measure were significantly related to the occurrence of conflict acts. However, the unique effect of the behavior-focused measure was stronger than that of the style measure. Research limitations/implications The data were collected from college students, thus limiting the generalizability of the findings. The measure of conflict acts was based on recall, which may also be subject to error and bias. In terms of implications, the findings strongly suggest that behavior-focused instruments are superior to style measures in predicting everyday conflict acts. Practical implications Because the behavior-focused individual difference measure was a better predictor of actual behavior than the style measure, investigators interested in such prediction may want to seriously consider using such measures. Originality/value Little research exists regarding the relative predictive abilities of style measures and behavior-focused measures; this paper provides some of the first such evidence.