Conflict stress and reduced well-being at work: The buffering effect of third-party help

Abstract

This study among 108 Dutch social services workers examined whether particularly the intrapsychic tension directly associated with interpersonal conflict at work, i.e., conflict stress, is responsible for reduced well-being in terms of emotional exhaustion, absenteeism, and turnover intentions. Furthermore, we explored whether these detrimental effects were buffered by third-party help. Factor analyses showed that third-party help could be considered an additional conflict management style, next to more traditional behavioural styles such as problem solving and forcing. As expected, conflict stress was positively related to emotional exhaustion, absenteeism, and turnover intentions even when controlled for task and relationship conflict. Furthermore, this relationship was strong for respondents who report low third-party help and nonexistent for respondents who report high third-party help. These findings suggest that third-party help is a successful conflict management strategy to prevent negative outcomes of interpersonal conflict in organizations.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Alette Zijlstra and Luuk Giebels for their help in collecting the data.

Notes

The other two aspects of the burnout concept, depersonalization and diminished personal accomplishments, have been criticized for being confounded with related concepts such as self-reliance and self-esteem (Shirom, 1989).

This women/men ratio, which is highly similar to the actual ratio in both organizations, may be regarded as typical for many healthcare organizations specialized in nursing.