Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Human Relations
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Friedman, R. A.
Right arrow Articles by Currall, S. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Conflict Escalation: Dispute Exacerbating Elements of E-mail Communication

Raymond A. Friedman

Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University.ray.friedman{at}owen.vanderbilt.edu

Steven C. Currall

Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, Rice University.scc{at}rice.edu

In this article, we proffer new theoretical ideas regarding how the structural features of e-mail make it more likely that disputes escalate when people communicate electronically compared to when they communicate face-to-face or via the telephone. Building upon Rubin et al.’s (1994) conflict escalation model, we propose a new conceptual framework that articulates: (i) the structural properties of e-mail communication; (ii) the impact of these properties on conflict process effects; and (iii) how process effects, in turn, trigger conflict escalation. Propositions specify the nature of relationships among process effects and the components of conflict escalation. We also discuss how the extent of familiarity between individuals acts as a moderator of these relationships. Our conceptual framework, the dispute-exacerbating model of e-mail (DEME), is designed to be a foundation for future empirical research.

Key Words: computer-mediated communication • conflict escalation • conflict management • dispute resolution • e-mail

Human Relations, Vol. 56, No. 11, 1325-1347 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/00187267035611003
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Journal of Service ResearchHome page
N. Robertson and R. N. Shaw
Predicting the Likelihood of Voiced Complaints in the Self-Service Technology Context
Journal of Service Research, August 1, 2009; 12(1): 100 - 116.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Small Group ResearchHome page
R. van der Kleij, J. Maarten Schraagen, P. Werkhoven, and C. K. W. De Dreu
How Conversations Change Over Time in Face-to-Face and Video-Mediated Communication
Small Group Research, August 1, 2009; 40(4): 355 - 381.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Human RelationsHome page
P. Myers
Themed article: Sexed up intelligence or irresponsible reporting? The interplay of virtual communication and emotion in dispute sensemaking
Human Relations, April 1, 2007; 60(4): 609 - 636.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Business and Technical CommunicationHome page
G. F. Thomas, C. L. King, B. Baroni, L. Cook, M. Keitelman, S. Miller, and A. Wardle
Reconceptualizing E-Mail Overload
Journal of Business and Technical Communication, July 1, 2006; 20(3): 252 - 287.
[Abstract] [PDF]