Task conflicts may be beneficial whereas relationship conflicts are associated with negative group outcomes. Because the 2 conflict types are typically correlated within work groups it is difficult to enhance task conflicts and to avoid relationship conflicts. In this study I investigate how two...

In this paper, we present a theoretical model of the spread of conflict within teams, which we refer to as conflict contagion. This model brings a multi-level perspective to the process of intragroup conflict by showing how the presence of interpersonal conflict can spread to other group members...

Past research (Jehn, 1995; Amason, 1996) and recent reviews of intragroup conflict (Jehn & Bendersky, 2003) suggest that task conflict, or disagreements among group members about the tasks being performed, including viewpoints, ideas, and opinions (c.f. Jehn, 1995), can be beneficial to group...

Purpose – There are a number of ongoing debates in the organizational literature about conflict in groups and teams. We investigate two “conflicts about conflict” (i.e., two meta-conflicts) in the literature: we examine whether and under what conditions conflict in workgroups might be...