Whereas the conclusions reached by De Dreu and Van Vianen (2001)
may be valid and useful, it should be emphasized that their cross-sectional
study spanned a time period of only 6 months (the time frame participants
had to adopt when answering questions). The study was not prospective in
nature, and we cannot know whether avoiding and inaction in the face of
relationship conflict might, in fact, have relatively positive effects on team
effectiveness in the short run, but highly detrimental consequences in the
long run.