Big Five factor and facet personality determinants of conflict management styles

Previous research has found consistent relations between dispositions and conflict management styles (CMS). Much of this research has established relations between CMS and the Big Five model of personality. However, studies have primarily focused on relations with the factors, despite evidence that facets account for greater variance and provide theoretical insight in other areas. The present research contributes to the personality and conflict management literature by investigating whether facets account for greater variance in CMS than factors and whether differences in facet-level predictors contribute to greater differentiation between CMS in light of evidence that some styles are not empirically distinguishable. Analyses use a sample of 11,219 participants that provides adequate statistical power for examining relations between 30 facets and CMS simultaneously. Results revealed that, on average, facet models account for approximately 1.5 times the variance attributable to factor models. Further, there is evidence for masking and cancellation effects that indicate there are distinctions between styles identifiable at the facet-level that are obscured when comparisons focus on the factors. We discuss the implications of our findings for the advancement of personality and conflict management research and for practitioners seeking to link personality to conflict handling in applied settings.