Skip to main content
Original Article

Agreeableness, Social Self-Efficacy, and Conflict Resolution Strategies

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000131

This research examined Agreeableness and social self-efficacy as predictors of positive (compromise, negotiation) and negative (attacking, power assertion) conflict resolution strategies in emerging adults (N = 699). Participants completed self-report measures of Agreeableness and social self-efficacy. Conflict resolution strategies were assessed using a multi-method approach. As predicted, social self-efficacy significantly moderated the relation between Agreeableness and negative conflict resolution strategies, but it did not for positive resolution strategies. For individuals higher in Agreeableness, follow-up analyses revealed that those higher in social self-efficacy endorsed negative resolution strategies less frequently than those lower in social self-efficacy.

References

  • Aiken, L. S., West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Allport, G. W., Odbert, H. S. (1936). Trait-names: A psycho-lexical study. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 47 (1, Whole No. 211), doi: 10.1037/h0093360 First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Arnold, J. A., O’Connor, K. M. (2006). How negotiator self-efficacy drives decisions to pursue mediation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 2649–2669. doi: 10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00121.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist, 37, 122–147. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.37.2.122 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran, (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior, Vol. 4, (pp. 71–81). New York, NY: Academic Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Bandura, A. (2006). Toward a psychology of human agency. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 164–180. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00011.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Bell, E. C., Blakeney, R. N. (1977). Personality correlates of conflict resolution modes. Human Relations, 30, 849–857. doi: 10.1177/001872677703000907 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Caprara, G. V., Alessandri, G., Di Giunta, L. , Panerai, L. , Eisenberg, N. (2010). The contribution of agreeableness and self-efficacy beliefs to prosociality. European Journal of Personality, 24, 36–55. doi: 10.1002/per.739 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Desivilya, H. S., Eizen, D. (2005). Conflict management in work teams: The role of social self-efficacy and group identification. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 16, 183–208. doi: 10.1108/eb022928 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Gist, M. E., Mitchell, T. R. (1992). Self-efficacy: A theoretical analysis of its determinants and malleability. Academy of Management Review, 17, 183–211. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Gleason, K. A., Jensen-Campbell, L. A. , Richardson, D. S. (2004). Agreeableness as a predictor of aggression in adolescence. Aggressive Behavior, 30, 43–61. doi: 10.1002/ab.20002 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Graziano, W. G., Bruce, J., Sheese, B. E. , Tobin, R. M. (2007). Attraction, personality, and prejudice: Liking none of the people most of the time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 565–582. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.93.4.565 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Graziano, W. G., Habashi, M. M., Sheese, B. E. , Tobin, R. M. (2007). Agreeableness, empathy, and helping: A Person × Situation perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 583–599. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.93.4.583 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Graziano, W. G., Hair, E. C., Finch, J. F. (1997). Competitiveness mediates the link between personality and group performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1394–1408. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.73.6.1394 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Graziano, W. G., Jensen-Campbell, L. A. , Hair, E. C. (1996). Perceiving interpersonal conflict and reacting to it: The case for Agreeableness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 820–835. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.70.4.820 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Graziano, W. G., Tobin, R. M. (2002). Agreeableness: Dimension of personality or social desirability artifact? Journal of Personality, 70, 695–728. doi: 10.1111/1467-6494.05021 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Graziano, W. G., Tobin, R. M. (2009). Agreeableness. In M. R. Leary R. H. HoyleEds., Handbook of individual differences in social behavior (pp. 46–61). New York, NY: Guilford. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Graziano, W. G., Tobin, R. M. (2013). Delay of gratification: A review of fifty years of regulation research. In R. H. Hoyle, (Ed.), Handbook of personality and self-regulation (pp. 347–364). Hoboken, NJ: Blackwell. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hair, E. C., Graziano, W. G. (2003). Self-esteem, personality, and achievement in high school: A prospective longitudinal study in Texas. Journal of Personality, 71, 971–994. doi: 10.1111/1467-6494.7106004 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Jensen-Campbell, L. A., Adams, R., Perry, D. G. , Workman, K. A., Furdella, J. Q. , Egan, S. K. (2002). Agreeableness, extraversion, and peer relations in early adolescence: Winning friends and deflecting aggression. Journal of Research in Personality, 36, 224–251. doi: 10.1006/jrpe.2002.2348 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Jensen-Campbell, L. A., Gleason, K. A. , Adams, R. , & Malcolm, K. T. (2003). Interpersonal conflict, agreeableness, and personality development. Journal of Personality, 71, 1059–1086. doi: 10.1111/1467-6494.7106007 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Jensen-Campbell, L. A., Graziano, W. G. (2001). Agreeableness as a moderator of interpersonal conflict. Journal of Personality, 69, 323–362. doi: 10.1111/1467-6494.00148 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • John, O. P., Naumann, L. P., Soto, C. J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative Big Five trait taxonomy. In O. P. John R. W. Robins L. A. PervinEds., Handbook of personality: Theory and research (3rd ed.). (pp. 114–158). New York, NY: Guilford. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Laursen, B., Collins, W. A. (1994). Interpersonal conflict during adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 197–209. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.115.2.197 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Pastorelli, C., Caprara, G. V. , Barbaranelli, C., Rola, J., Rozsa, S. , Bandura, A. (2001). The structure of children’s perceived self-efficacy: A cross-national study. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 17, 87–97. doi: 10.1027/1015-5759.17.2.87 First citation in articleLinkGoogle Scholar

  • Reese-Weber, M. (2000). Middle and late adolescents’ conflict resolution skills with siblings: Associations with interparental and parent-adolescent conflict resolution. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 697–711. doi: 10.1023/A:1026408023351 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Reese-Weber, M. , Bartle-Haring, S. (1998). Conflict resolution styles in family subsystems and adolescent romantic relationships. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 27, 735–752. doi: 10.1023/A:1022861832406 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Reese-Weber, M., Kahn, J. H. (2005). Familial predictors of sibling and romantic-partner conflict resolution: Comparing late adolescents from intact and divorced families. Journal of Adolescence, 28, 479–493. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2004.09.004 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Rubenstein, J. L., Feldman, S. S. (1993). Conflict-resolution behavior in adolescent boys: Antecedents and adaptational correlates. Journal of Research on Adolescents, 3, 41–66. doi: 10.1207/s15327795jra0301_3 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Shantz, C. U., Hartup, W. W. (1992). Conflict and development: An introduction. In C. U. Shantz W. W. HartupEds., Conflict in child and adolescent development (pp. 1–11). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Shi, L. (2003). The association between adult attachment styles and conflict resolution in romantic relationships. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 31, 143–157. doi: 10.1080/01926180390167142 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Sierau, S. , & Herzberg, P. Y. (2012). Conflict resolution as a dyadic mediator: Considering the partner perspective on conflict resolution. European Journal of Personality, 26, 221–232. doi: 10.1002/per.828 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Smith, H. M., Betz, N. E. (2000). Development and validation of a scale of perceived social self-efficacy. Journal of Career Assessment, 8, 283–301. doi: 10.1177/106907270000800306 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Suldo, S. M., Shaffer, E. J. (2007). Evaluation of the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children in two samples of American adolescents. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 25, 341–355. doi: 10.1177/0734282907300636 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Tobin, R. M., Graziano, W. G. , Vanman, E. J., Tassinary, L. G. (2000). Personality, emotional experience, and efforts to control emotions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 656–669. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.79.4.656 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Vera, E. M., Shin, R. Q., Montgomery, G. P. , Mildner, C., Speight, S. L. (2004). Conflict resolution styles, self-efficacy, self-control, and future orientation of urban adolescents. Professional School Counseling, 8, 73–80. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Vuchinich, S. (1990). The sequential organization of closing in verbal family conflict. In A. D. Grimshaw, (Ed.), Conflict talk (pp. 118–138). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Wheeler, V. A., Ladd, G. W. (1982). Assessment of children’s self-efficacy for social interactions with peers. Developmental Psychology, 18, 795–805. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.18.6.795 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar