Maria T. M. Dijkstra

Conflict and well‐being at work: the moderating role of personality

Purpose – This study examines the moderating influence of the Big Five factors of agreeableness, extraversion, and emotional stability on the relationship between conflict and well‐being.Design/methodology/approach – Two field studies were conducted in which respondents were asked to fill out questionnaires during work hours; the first study involved a health care organization, the second one a manufacturing organization.Findings – In performing sets of hierarchical regressions it was shown that conflict was negatively associated with well‐being, especially when individuals were low in agreeableness, low in emotional stability or low in extraversion.Research limitations/implications – We proposed directional relations between conflict and individual well‐being, however we cannot rule out the alternative in which reduced well‐being leads to more conflict. Future research using a cross‐lagged design with longitudinal data is needed to establish causal relationships.Practical implications – The most straight...

Passive responses to interpersonal conflict at work amplify employee strain

Interpersonal conflict at work correlates with stress related outcomes such as psychological strain and exhaustion. Consistent with conflict theory, we argued that this relationship is moderated by the way conflict is managed. Cross-sectional data collected in The Netherlands, from students with part-time jobs (Sample 1, n = 104), healthcare workers (Sample 2, n = 191), and mid-level administrative personnel (Sample 3, n = 161) indeed revealed that conflict was related to psychological strain and exhaustion especially when interpersonal conflict was managed passively (through avoiding and yielding). Active conflict management strategies (forcing and problem solving) did not moderate the relationship between interpersonal conflict and employee strain. Implications for conflict theory, for future research, and for practice are discussed.

Goal Integration and Well-Being: Self-Regulation Through Inner Resources in the Netherlands and Spain

Personality integration has been related to individual well-being. The present study focused on the combined influence of personality integration through the personal-striving goal construct, active-passive approach toward achieving one’s goals, and inner resources on well-being. Specific attention was given to how this process works out in two culturally different countries: the Netherlands and Spain. Results indicated that goal integration, passive thinking, active thinking, and vitality were higher in the Netherlands compared to Spain. It was also shown that inner resources combined with active thinking to function as a buffer for the possible negative effects on vitality. Results were similar in both countries, a finding that provides an indication for possible cross-cultural generalization of this process. The overall results present active-passive thinking combined with inner resources as an influential factor in the relation between goal integration and well-being.

Engaging in Rather than Disengaging from Stress: Effective Coping and Perceived Control

Being able to cope effectively with stress can help people to avoid negative consequences for their psychological well-being. The purpose of this study was to find out why some coping strategies are effective in reducing the negative effect of stressors on well-being and some are not. We argue that the degree to which such coping strategies engage or disengage people from stressful incidents is related to their perceived control of the situation that, in turn, is positively associated with their psychological well-being. We thus propose that the relationship between coping and psychological well-being is mediated by the extent of perceived sense of control. We collected cross-sectional data from a large heterogeneous sample (N = 543) in the Netherlands. We assessed seven different coping strategies, perceived control, and psychological well-being. Our results indeed revealed that strategies reflecting more engaged coping such as active confronting and reassuring thoughts, were associated with more sense of control and therefore to psychological well-being. In contrast, strategies reflecting disengagement coping, such as passive reaction pattern, palliative reaction, and avoidance, were associated with less perceived control, which in turn was negatively associated with psychological well-being. Results regarding the coping strategies expressing emotions and seeking social support were less straightforward, with the former being negatively associated with perceived control and psychological well-being, even though this strategy has stress engaging elements, and the latter only showing a positive indirect effect on psychological well-being via perceived control, but no positive main effect on well-being. These findings are discussed from the perspective of stress being an environment-perception-response process.

Gossiping as a response to conflict with the boss: alternative conflict management behavior?

Purpose – The current paper aims to argue that it is important for conflict management research to start focusing on leader–follower conflict as a “special case” of conflict because the relationship between leaders and followers is, by definition, characterized by divergence of interest and, second, because it is asymmetric in terms of power and vulnerability. Moreover, it is argued that conflict management research should start to examine the various behaviors that people engage in as a response to conflict, in a broader sense, than has been done until now. Research on conflict management increasingly recognizes the significance of interpersonal relations in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach – As a case in point, a survey study among 97 Dutch police officers is presented. Leaders’ conflict management behaviors as assessed by followers is measured. In addition, followers’ experienced interactional justice and the extent to which they indicated that they would engage in negative and/or positive go...

Sweeping the floor or putting a man on the moon: How to define and measure meaningful work

Meaningful work is integral to well-being and a flourishing life. The construct of “meaningful work” is, however, consistently affected by conceptual ambiguity. Although there is substantial support for arguments to maintain the status of conceptual ambiguity, we make a case for the benefits of having consensus on a definition and scale of meaningful work in the context of paid work. The objective of this article, therefore, was twofold. Firstly, we wanted to develop a more integrative definition of meaningful work. Secondly, we wanted to establish a corresponding operationalization. We reviewed the literature on the existing definitions of meaningful work and the scales designed to measure it. We found 14 definitions of meaningful work. Based on these definitions, we identified four categories of definitions, which led us to propose an integrative and comprehensive definition of meaningful work. We identified two validated scales that were partly aligned with the proposed definition. Based on our review, we conclude that scholars in this field should coalesce rather than diverge their efforts to conceptualize and measure meaningful work.