Excited to Disagree? A Study of Emotions in Team Conflict Laurie R. Weingart Tepper School of Business Carnegie Mellon University (in collaboration with Julia Bear and Gergana Todorova) 1

Theory Formation Identify Cultural Factors CUNY, Georgetown, CMU Computational Models CMU, USC Virtual Humans USC Implementation CMU RESEARCH PRODUCTS Surveys & Interviews CUNY, CMU, U Mich, Georgetown Cross-Cultural Interactions U Pitt, CMU Data Analysis CUNY, Georgetown, U Pitt, CMU validation Validated Theories Models Modeling Tools Briefing Materials Scenarios Training Simulations Common task Subgroup task 2

Teams And Team Outcomes Team –Small group –Task focused –Common goal –Interdependent, collaborative, actions –Interdependent outcomes Team Outcomes –Performance –Attitudes –Learning 3

Conflict in Teams Conflict = active discussion of disagreements Conflict and team performance –Positive – constructive debate –Negative – escalation Conflict Types –Task - conflict about the task itself: how to perform the task, what needs to be done, etc. –Process - conflict about how to get a task done: managing deadlines, who should do what, etc –Interpersonal - conflict while working that is more personal in nature: about personal preferences, personalities, non-work related issues, etc 4

Emotion in Conflict Why study emotion? –Emotion has a strong influence on subsequent behavior –Different types of conflict elicit different levels of emotion. What is emotion? –Subjective experience of affect that is short-term, discrete and has an attributed cause (Barry, 1999; Frijda, 1993) –Not = mood 5

Negative Emotions What do we know? –Team conflict (overall) is associated with high levels of negative emotions (Greer & Jehn, 2007; Jehn, 1995) –Interpersonal conflict is largely defined by the experience of negative emotions ( Jehn, 1995; Jehn & Mannix, 2001) However… –very little empirical research in this area –Task and process conflict may also invoke negative emotions (Cronin & Bezrukova, 2006; Greer & Jehn, 2007) –Some conflict may invoke positive emotion 6

Example of Circumplex Models of Emotion active passive negative positive Attentive, active, interested, alert, energetic Calm, content, at ease, quiet, sympathetic Frustrated, anxious, angry, annoyed, tense Dissatisfied, tired, irritated, worn out, exhausted 7 (e.g., Feldman & Russell, 1998; Larson & Deiner, 1992; Russell, 1980; Watson & Tellegen, 1985 )

Stream of Research Measurement development pretest Study 1: How do team members experience conflict? –Both positive and negative emotions? –Both active and passive emotions? –Different emotions during task, process, and interpersonal conflict? Study 2: What role do conflict emotions play in team collaboration and performance? Study 3: How does the process differ across cultures and when people from different cultures interact? 8

Measurement Development Pretest Procedure: –Identified 10 representative emotions from each category –Determined face validity in conflict setting using a sample of MBA students enrolled in Groups and Teams course (n = 25) Ranked each set “in terms of how likely team members involved in conflict are likely to experience them” Selected top 5 from each category Results: –Positive Active: Attentive, active, interested, alert, energetic –Positive Passive: Calm, content, at ease, quiet, sympathetic –Negative Active: Frustrated, anxious, angry, annoyed, tense –Negative Passive: Dissatisfied, tired, irritated, worn out, exhausted 9

Study 1: Exploratory Online Survey Sample –Markettools – marketing research firm –Selection criteria – significant experience working in teams (“worked regularly on an important task for more than 1 month in duration”) –Sample size: 86 respondents met our criteria –Sample description: majority were18-34 years old, 4 year college degree, white, employed, management experience Procedure –Retrospective Study: recall experiences and report on emotions –Defined conflict type (task, process, interpersonal) –Asked participants to report how they felt when engaged in each type of conflict Self-report Likert-type scales 5 items for each type of emotion 10

Findings Repeated-measures (2 X 2 X 3) ANOVA –Main effects: emotion valence, F (1, 85)=15.35, p<.0001 emotion activation, F (1, 85)=65.61, p<.0001 conflict type, F(1,85)=.24, ns –2-way interactions: between conflict type and emotion valence, F (2, 84) = 9.72, p<.0001 between emotion valence and activation, F (1, 85) = 56.44, p<.0001 –3-way interactions: between conflict type, emotion valence, and emotion activation, F (2, 84) =10.11, p<

12 Active > passive Negative active > positive passive

Summary of Findings Positive-active emotions are the most prevalent in team conflict situations Different emotional profiles for different types of conflict (task, process vs. interpersonal) Enough evidence to begin studying effects of conflict emotion on team performance across types of conflict 13

Progress in Research Stream Study 1: How do team members experience conflict? –Both positive and negative emotions? YES –Both active and passive emotions? YES –Different emotions during task, process, and interpersonal conflict? YES Study 2: What role do conflict emotions play in collaboration and performance? –Currently collecting data student multidisciplinary software/product development teams Continuing care facility (independent living through nursing home) Study 3: How does the process differ across cultures and when people from different cultures interact? –Design and conduct this study in the next 18 months 14

Next Steps: Conflict Emotions and Culture Does the circumplex hold across cultures? Do emotions cluster according to pleasantness and activation the same way in other cultures? What are the links between conflict types and emotions in other cultures? How do conflict and emotions interact to influence collaboration, cooperation, and team performance within and across cultures? What are the dynamics of emotion in conflicts? 15