In a sample of social services workers in the Netherlands, Giebels and
Janssen examine whether the intrapsychic tension associated with interpersonal
conflict at work, i.e., conflict stress, is responsible for reduced wellbeing
in terms of emotional exhaustion, absenteeism, and turnover intentions.
Their results supported this prediction: Conflict stress was positively related to
emotional exhaustion, absenteeism, and turnover intentions. Importantly,
their study also identified third party help as an additional style of conflict
management next to more traditional styles such as collaborating and
contending. Interestingly, the negative relationships between conflict stress on
the one hand, and emotional exhaustion, absenteeism, and turnover intentions
on the other, were strong among employees who report low third-party help
and nonexistent for respondents who report high third-party help. Based on
these and related findings, Giebels and Janssen therefore conclude that thirdparty
help appears a successful conflict management strategy to prevent
negative outcomes of interpersonal conflict in organizations.