Motivation for conflict among Chinese university students : effects of others' expertise and one's own confidence on engaging in conflict

Dean William TJOSVOLD, Roger NIBLER, Man Kei, Paulina WAN

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Researchers (A. C. Amason, 1996; D. H. Gruenfeld, 1995; K. A. Jehn, 1995, 1997; M. A. Rahim, 1989; M. A. Rahim and A. A. Blum, 1994; D. M. Schweiger, W. R. Sandberg, and P. L. Rechner, 1989; P. E. Tetlock, D. Armor, and R. S. Peterson, 1994) have documented the value of conflictual discussions for solving problems, but few have explored the conditions under which people are motivated to engage in controversy (K. A. Jehn, C. Chadwick, and S. M. B. Thatcher, 1997). Some (M. Van Berklom and D. Tjosvold, 1981) have hypothesized that high expertise and a competitive social context arouse concerns about defending one's position and challenging the opposing one. In the present study, Chinese university students in Hong Kong who expected to disagree with an expert, compared with those who did not expect to disagree with an expert, had less confidence, felt less knowledgeable about their position, and selected an agreeable discussant. Consistent with the idea of maintaining distance from those in power, the participants were reluctant to disagree directly with someone with greater expertise.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)353-363
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Social Psychology
Volume141
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2001

Funding

The authors thank their research assistants and appreciate the financial support of Grant LC3004198H from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong to the first author

Keywords

  • Chinese university students
  • Confidence
  • Conflict
  • Controversy
  • Disagreement
  • Expertise

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