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Mediators' impartiality and empathy are two classical factors in the parties' trust in mediators. However, mediators are often torn between being impartial and being empathetic. The aim of this paper is to explore this empirically.

This study empirically tests the strategic use of caucus to improve the interaction between impartiality and empathy by splitting them into two phases: impartiality in joint sessions and empathy in caucus.

The strategy did create significant synergy between impartiality and empathy with the main impact of reducing the time needed to reach an agreement.

All research data come from workplace mediation and from the same organization. Although it can be reasonably postulated that the results can be generalized to other mediation settings, this remains to be proven.

When mediators use the trust caucus strategy, impartiality and empathy work better together and parties put more weight on empathy than on impartiality. While the use of the trust caucus does not increase the likelihood of reaching agreement, it does significantly decrease the time needed to conclude an agreement.

The study uses a quasi‐experimental design to test its hypothesis. Furthermore, the study uses real mediation cases.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the influence of managers' leadership styles (transformational, transactional and laissez‐faire) on both the level and the nature of workplace conflicts (cognitive and relational in nature).

Data are collected from hospital employees in Canada. A total of 1,031 completed questionnaires are received, representing a response rate of 46 percent. The hypothesis is tested using confirmatory factor analyses and multiple regressions.

The results indicate that the two conflict dimensions do not derive completely from the same mechanisms, since only two out of the eight leadership dimensions evaluated influence both cognitive and relational conflicts. On the one hand, inspirational motivation has a negative impact on cognitive conflicts while intellectual stimulation and passive management by exception seem to foster it. On the other hand, inspirational motivation and individualized consideration negatively influence relational conflicts whereas management by exception‐active and management by exception‐passive impact it positively.

The sample comprises a single organization and the data are collected at one point in time. Also, the model's variables are assessed by the same source (employees).

The results of this research highlight the importance of a supervisor's ability to introduce a common vision and demonstrate individualized consideration to reduce workplace conflict during periods of organizational change.

Although researchers stress that conflict management represents an important role for leaders, very few empirical studies have examined how leadership influences workplace conflicts.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of conflict management on conflicts at work. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 148 post‐graduate students in management responded to a questionnaire online. Two cluster analyses were performed to identify dispute resolution patterns and organizational dispute states. Then, cross tabulation between the two clusters was performed (Pearson's chi‐square coefficient and Sommer's D statistic). Findings – Cluster analyses identified three styles of dispute resolution pattern – interest‐based, based on controlled power, and power‐based – and three different organizational dispute states: harmony, dissonance, and conflict. Finally, the influence of resolution patterns on dispute states was been confirmed by the cross tabulation. Research limitations/implications – Firstly, Ury et al.'s theoretical typology should be revised, especially for the rights‐based approach. Secondly, the results of our cluster analysis indicate that it might not be necessary to measure the emotional and behavioral dimension of conflict separately. Thirdly, our research confirms the impact of conflict management on conflicts at work. Practical implications – The results show that dispute resolution patterns have a non‐negligible influence on organizational conflict states. In order to increase the likelihood of a harmony state, an interest‐based dispute resolution pattern should be adopted. Originality/value – First, the statistical technique used – cluster analysis – is somewhat innovative. Secondly, this research shows that dispute resolution patterns may affect organizational dispute states.

Parties' respective share of responsibility in a conflict is a topic that many mediators have difficulty approaching from fear of radicalizing discussions. The present paper aims to propose a strategy to help mediators facilitate parties' acknowledgement of their role in the escalation of a conflict.

The strategy is tested using a quasi‐experimental design using real case mediation in partnership with Commission des normes du travail du Québec (CNT).

The results indicate that it has a significant impact on the parties' acknowledgement of their share of responsibility, reconciliation and the settlement rate.

Although the research design has good external validity, the strategy should be tested in other settings such as family mediation.

The results show that the parties' perceptions that they played no role in conflict escalation and that the other is responsible for the whole situation are at the heart of any conflict.

This study empirically tests an interesting and valuable approach to mediation.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the importance of research setting in conflict research design. Research studies conducted in a university setting were compared to other research conducted in workplaces.

A meta‐analysis of 28 related papers was conducted to compute effect sizes of the linkages between task conflict, relationship conflict, satisfaction and performance. The impact of the research setting (i.e. university vs workplace) as a moderator was also tested.

The research setting was found to be a significant moderator of the linkage between task conflict and satisfaction, task conflict and performance as well as relationship conflict and performance. In each case of moderation, the effect sizes were much greater when research was conducted in the workplace than in a university setting.

The findings suggest that research conducted in a university setting likely underestimated the impact of conflicts on the level of satisfaction and the degree of performance as compared to research conducted in a workplace setting.

The author proposes that more conflict studies should be conducted in a field setting. In addition, it is proposed that such studies include more often satisfaction and related variables in research design.

The majority of conflict research is conducted in a university setting (e.g. students doing a project for credit), under the assumption that the setting is a fair approximation of the workplace. The present study shows that this assumption might not be true.

This study aims to clarify the relationship between changes in role ambiguity and turnover intentions. The authors propose that increases in role ambiguity over time can bias employees’ interpretations such that they come to view more relationship conflict at work. Because of the importance of social relationships at work, the authors propose that these increases in perceptions of relationship conflict mediate the positive effect of increases in role ambiguity on turnover intentions.

This study is a two-wave longitudinal analysis of survey responses obtained from 146 employees working in the health-care sector over a three-year period. Structural equation modeling of cross-lagged correlations was used to test the hypothesized model.

The positive relationship between increases in role ambiguity and turnover intentions over time is mediated by increases in relationship conflict. Results provide an integrative explanation of the phenomenon, uniting role theory, conflict theory and turnover theory.

Measures were all self-reported, and the non-experimental nature of the research design precludes causal interpretations. Future research should incorporate sources of measurement other than the focal employee and include additional variables presumed to operate in explaining these effects.

Results highlight the need to monitor changes in employees’ role ambiguity beliefs over time. They also point to conflict management interventions as a potential means of reducing turnover intentions among employees who experience role ambiguity increases.

The longitudinal examination of changes in these variables yields new insight into the nature of the relationships between role ambiguity, conflict and turnover intentions.