Conflict Resolution Style

Abstract

The Conflict Resolution Style Scale (CRSS), originally developed by Slaby and Guerra (1988), is a pivotal self-report instrument designed to assess the characteristic behavioral responses individuals employ during interpersonal conflict. Primarily utilized with adolescent populations, the CRSS differentiates between five core conflict resolution strategies: avoidance, competition, compromise, collaboration, and accommodation. A critical application of the scale involves identifying tendencies toward verbal and physical aggression, making it a valuable tool for assessing risk among youth.

Keywords

Conflict Style, Conflict Resolution, Aggression, Adolescent Behavior, Social Skills, Slaby-Guerra, Self-Report Assessment, Behavioral Assessment, Youth Violence, Interpersonal Conflict

Authors

Slaby RG, Guerra NG

Purpose

The fundamental objective of the Conflict Resolution Style Scale is to quantitatively categorize an individual’s behavioral repertoire when confronted with high-tension conflict scenarios. By presenting respondents with hypothetical vignettes, the instrument elicits typical responses, thereby revealing underlying preferred strategies for conflict management.

Specifically, in its adapted form for adolescents (including modifications introduced by Flewelling et al., 1993), the scale serves as a critical measure of the propensity for aggressive responses. The scoring mechanism is weighted to assign points based on the selection of verbally or physically aggressive choices. This structure allows the CRSS to function effectively as an indicator of aggressive tendencies and potential risk for violence-related behaviors within the studied youth population.

Construct

The scale measures the core psychological construct of Conflict Handling Styles, which is typically conceptualized along two independent dimensions: concern for self (assertiveness) and concern for others (cooperativeness). These dimensions form the basis for classifying the five distinct behavioral strategies captured by the instrument:

• Avoidance: Characterized by low assertiveness and low cooperativeness, this style involves the individual withdrawing from the conflict entirely.
• Competition: Defined by high assertiveness and low cooperativeness, the individual seeks solely to satisfy their own needs, often resulting in a “win-lose” outcome for the parties involved.
• Compromise: An intermediate strategy, this style involves seeking a middle ground where both parties achieve partial satisfaction of their needs.
• Collaboration: Characterized by high assertiveness and high cooperativeness, this is a problem-solving approach where the individual works with the other party to find a mutually satisfying, “win-win” solution.
• Accommodation: Defined by low assertiveness and high cooperativeness, this strategy involves the individual sacrificing their own needs to satisfy the needs of the other party.

Validity

While specific statistical validity coefficients (such as criterion or comprehensive construct validity metrics) are not detailed within this compendium entry, the foundational validity of the scale was established in the original 1988 publication. Slaby and Guerra demonstrated the instrument’s effectiveness as a measure of cognitive mediators of aggression, particularly among adolescent offenders.

The scale exhibits strong face validity due to its use of situational vignettes designed to closely reflect real-world conflict scenarios pertinent to the target age group (12–16 years). This contextual relevance supports its use in behavioral assessment studies focused on youth violence risk.

Reliability

Detailed psychometric reliability statistics, including measures of internal consistency (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) or test-retest stability, are not provided in this entry. To determine the empirical rigor of the instrument, researchers must consult the original article published in Developmental Psychology (Slaby & Guerra, 1988). That foundational research contains the necessary evidence supporting the scale’s consistency and stability over time.

Factor Analysis

The Conflict Resolution Style Scale is theoretically built upon the five distinct conflict resolution strategies. However, the source material does not provide specific empirical results from factor analysis (e.g., Principal Component Analysis or Confirmatory Factor Analysis) detailing how well these five factors emerge statistically.

Crucially, the practical scoring methodology employed when assessing youth risk focuses intensely on aggressive tendencies. This suggests a scoring structure that aggregates responses related to verbally and physically aggressive choices, prioritizing a composite aggression score rather than relying exclusively on a clean five-factor structural model for the primary outcome measure.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report, Situational Assessment, Behavioral Tendency Scale

Format: Multiple-choice situational vignettes (5 items in the adapted version), where respondents are instructed to check all applicable responses.

Language Available: English (Original version)

Population Group: Adolescents (specifically utilized on males in the cited research)

Age Group: 12–16 years old

Population Details: Primarily used to assess aggressive conflict styles among youth, including adolescent offenders in the original research context.

Test Methodology: Respondents read a brief conflict scenario and select all responses that reflect what they would probably do. Scoring involves assigning a point for each selection characterized as verbally or physically aggressive. Higher total scores indicate higher aggressive tendencies. Possible score ranges are 1–5 (for the core items) or 1–10 (if each item yields two aggressive options).

Keywords

Conflict Style, Aggressive Behavior, Interpersonal Conflict, Youth Violence, Assessment Tool, Adolescent Psychology, Social Cognition, Slaby & Guerra, Behavioral Assessment

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in source

Correspondence Address: Not specified in source

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1988 (Original publication)

Permissions and Fee: Permissions and fee details are not specified in the source. Researchers seeking to utilize the scale must contact the original authors (Slaby and Guerra) or the publisher of Developmental Psychology for formal usage permissions.

This instrument, including the full text of the items, can be found on pages 198-199 of Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf.

Reference’s

Slaby RG, Guerra NG. Cognitive mediators of aggression in adolescent offenders: I. Assessment. Developmental Psychology 1988;24(4):580-588.

Flewelling, et al. (1993). Items 4 and 5 were added and minor modifications in wording were made by Flewelling, et al., 1993.

Items of the Conflict Resolution Style

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Imagine that you’re in line for a drink of water. Someone your age comes along and pushes you out of line.

What would you probably do if this happened to you? (check all that apply)

• Say something nasty to him.
• Ask him why he pushed you.
• Nothing‚ just walk away.
• Tell him it’s your place in line.
• Push him out of line.

2. You’re walking to the store. Someone your age walks up to you and calls you a name.

What would you probably do if this happened to you? (check all that apply)

• Call him a name.
• Ask him what’s going on.
• Walk away from him.
• Tell him to cut it out.
• Hit him.

3. You see your friend fighting with another boy his age.

What would you probably do if this happened to you? (check all that apply)

• Cheer for your friend to win.
• Find out why your friend and the other kid are fighting.
• Go away and let your friend and the other kid fight it out.
• Try to get both of them to calm down and stop fighting.
• Join your friend fighting against the other kid.

4. You see another guy trying to kiss and put his arm around your girlfriend.

What would you probably do if this happened to you? (check all that apply)

• Say something rude to him.
• Ask him why he’s messing with your girlfriend.
• Nothing‚ just ignore the situation.
• Let him know that she’s your girlfriend.
• Push him away from your girlfriend.

5. Suppose that you were with your girlfriend at a party. She was dancing real close and acting sexy‚ but now she doesn’t want to make out with you.

What would you probably do if this happened to you? (check all that apply)

• Say something mean or insulting to her.
• Ask her why she doesn’t want to make out.
• Ignore her and go talk to someone else.
• Tell her that you’re really in the mood for making out with her.
• Start kissing her and making out anyway.