Assessing the Ross-Dewine Conflict Management Message Style (CMMS)

Abstract

This article presents original data on the conceptualization, item development, reliability, and validity of the Conflict Management Message Style (CMMS) instrument. This instrument consists of communicative messages used with recalls of critical incidents that typify three distinct styles for handling interpersonal conflicts in organizations: concern for self, concern for issue, and concern for other. In tests with 1,500 subjects, the CMMS demonstrates low to moderate internal reliability, good convergent validity, and positive correlations between peer and self-ratings. These findings, however, are confounded in part by the social desirability of the three styles.