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Conict management styles, emotional intelligence, and job performance in public organizations
Hsi-An Shih and Ely Susanto
College of Management, Institute of International Business, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among emotional intelligence (EI), conict management styles (CMSs) and job performance at selected local governments in Indonesia. Specically, the antecedent of CMSs was investigated. Design/methodology/approach A total of 300 government employees from two local districts and one province in Indonesia were asked to complete the questionnaire. The nal sample consisted of 228 respondents. The multiple hierarchical regression was used to test the developed hypotheses. Findings The ndings indicate that EI was an antecedent of conict management styles for integrating and compromising styles. Moreover, they illustrate the direct effects of integrating style on job performance. This study also conrms that integrating style partially mediates the relationship between EI and job performance. Finally, the results demonstrate that EI within public organizations has an impact on job performance similar to that of EI within private organizations. Originality/value Previous studies were less focused on the antecedents of conict management styles on job performance. Further, the effects of two conict management styles on EI and job performance had previously lacked attention. The paper veries that EI within public sectors can provide benecial results as discovered in private organizations. Keywords Emotional intelligence, Conict management, Management styles, Public sector organizations, Local government, Indonesia Paper type Research paper

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Received 11 October 2008 Accepted 25 May 2009

Conict is a phenomenon that has continued to present itself within organizations (Jehn, 1995; Kim et al., 2007). Individuals involved in organizations are subject to conict, whether conscious or unconscious, and the impact of conict is unavoidable, either positive or negative ( Jehn, 1997). Sometimes conicts within organizations have led to disturbed routines, and decreased productivity and satisfaction (Gladstein, 1984; Wall and Nolan, 1986; Jehn, 1995). However, through conicts, an organization has the potential to enhance its quality of decision making, creativity and performance ( Jehn,
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM), Philadelphia. The authors wish to thank Editor Richard A. Posthuma, three anonymous reviewers, Jason D. Shaw, Chung-Jen Cheng, Hsueh-Liang Wu, Wann-Yih Wu, and Master in Public Policy and Administration Program, Gadjah Mada University (MAP UGM Yogyakarta, Indonesia) for their helpful comments on earlier versions and support. Their contributions helped enormously in improving this article.

International Journal of Conict Management Vol. 21 No. 2, 2010 pp. 147-168 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1044-4068 DOI 10.1108/10444061011037387

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1997; Leung and Tjosvold, 1998; Tjosvold, 1998). Since conict has important implications for organization and performance, but the literature shows inconsistent ndings, it is necessary to reexamine the causes and effects of this important organizational variable. Conict management styles (CMSs) have been described as specic behavioral patterns that individuals prefer to employ when dealing with conict (Moberg, 2001, p. 47). A previous study divided CMSs into ve styles: integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising (Rahim, 1983). Research suggests that there is a preference for individuals to use the integrating style and the compromising style when facing conicts (Trubisky et al., 1991; Lee, 2003). Gross and Guerrero (2000) proposed that the integrating style was a more effective form of conict management style when compared with other CMSs. Even though integrating and compromising styles are more likely to be used, few studies have investigated the antecedents of these CMSs (Terhune, 1970; Antonioni, 1998). Among the limited research, Antonioni (1998) investigated the role of personality as an antecedent of CMSs. It was found that the role of extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, and agreeableness were important predictors of the integrating style. In this study, we applied EI as an antecedent of conict management styles in terms of integrating as well as compromising styles. The use of EI was based on the notion that emotionally intelligent people regard their own emotions and the emotions of others as a basis in framing their relationships with other people (Mayer and Salovey, 1993, 1997). This characteristic might generate a sympathetic feeling (Mayer et al., 1999; Schutte et al., 2001) that encourages individuals to consider other interests when they want to solve conicts. In this situation, a win-win solution may become a priority in resolving the conicts among individuals in order to satisfy everyones interests. Although previous studies have shown that the integrating and compromising styles are preferred when people face conicts (e.g. Lee, 2003; Trubisky et al., 1991), the direct impacts of those two styles on job performance are under-researched. Rahim et al. (2001) contended the linkage between CMSs and job performance, but this relationship has not been tested directly. Other studies discussed the positive effects of integrating and compromising styles on conict resolutions (Hocker and Wilmot, 1998; Gross and Guerrero, 2000), but not on job performance. This may cause theoretical limitation in explaining why individuals prefer to use integrating and compromising styles when resolving conicts, particularly its relation with job performance. This study therefore wants to close the theoretical gap and aim to identify the connection between integrating and compromising CMSs and job performance. Several researchers have argued that EI had a positive effect on job performance (Slaski and Cartwright, 2003; Bar-On, 1997; Goleman, 1995, 1997, 1998; Law et al., 2008) and sales performance (Wong et al., 2004). However, they provide little information on the underlying mechanism through which EI affects job performance. We expect that the effect of EI on job performance may be related to integrating or compromising style. This idea was based on the fact that conicts are unavoidable at the workplace ( Jehn, 1995), but should be solved properly in order to positively affect job performance. On the other hand, emotionally intelligent people who have the ability to manage emotion may help them optimize cognitive processing in order to discover and utilize positive opportunities (Andrade and May, 2004) in resolving conicts on job performance while avoiding the negative outcomes. Hence, emotionally intelligent

people may select integrating or compromising styles as those styles may be able to produce positive affects on job performance. To investigate the relationship between EI, CMSs, and job performance, we collected data on respondents working in the public sector. After reviewing the extant literature, we found that previous research has not focused on the relationship between EI, CMSs, and job performance within the public sector (Jordan and Troth, 2004; Rahim et al., 2001). We argue that the application of management knowledge should not be conned to the domain of private organizations. EI, CMSs and job performance research should be extended to the domain of public organizations so as to generalize research ndings. Even though private and public organizations are alike in dealing with basic management principles, they are different in their goals in terms of self-interest versus social welfare (Rainey and Chun, 2005). In addition, Denhardt (1991, p. 15) further explicates the differences between private and public organizations in term of ambiguity, pluralistic decision making and visibility. Those differences may create different tensions among employees at those sectors, leading to different behaviors. This study therefore expects to verify whether EI can provide benecial results discovered in private organizations. Literature review and developed hypotheses Emotional intelligence The concept of social intelligence developed by Thorndike (1920) has been recognized as one of the basic principles of EI (Hedlund and Sternberg, 2000; Landy, 2005; Wong and Law, 2002; Law et al., 2004). Specically, social intelligence refers to the ability to perceive ones own and others internal states, motives and behaviors and to act toward them optimally on the basis of that information (Mayer and Salovey, 1993, p. 435). A similar idea was developed by Gardner (1993). He proposed that individuals possessed multiple intelligences of which social intelligence was one (Law et al., 2004). Based on social intelligence, Salovey and Mayer (1990) dened EI as the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability of individuals to monitor feelings and emotions as well as to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide their thinking processes (Salovey and Mayer, 1990, p.189). In 1997, they further revised it as the ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and express emotion; the ability to access and/or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth (Mayer and Salovey, 1997, p. 10). Then some scholars labeled it as the ability-based model of EI (e.g. Mayer et al., 2000; Petrides and Furnham, 2001; Meyer and Fletcher, 2007; Day and Carroll, 2008; Zeidner et al., 2008; Kafetsios and Zampetakis, 2008). The abilities itself reect the possible variations over individuals in the minimal [threshold] levels of task difculty. . . at which, on any given occasion in which all conditions appear to be favorable, individuals perform successfully on a dened class of tasks (Carroll, 1993, p. 8). As an ability-based model, EI has several characteristics. First, it consists of interrelated abilities that make people skillful in managing their own emotion and comprehending other peoples emotion for producing better behaviors and thoughts (Mayer and Salovey, 1997; Davies et al., 1998; Ng et al., 2007; Mayer et al., 2008). Second, EI is an intelligence (Mayer et al., 2000; Mayer and Salovey, 1997; Mayer et al., te and 2004; Goldenberg et al., 2006) that has the potential to improve over time (Co

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Miners, 2006, p. 4). As an intelligence, EI is different from personality trait (Brackett and Mayer, 2003; Law et al., 2004; Freudenthaler and Neubauer, 2007). Third, EI will advance in line with the development of age and experience of people (Goldenberg et al., te and Miners, 2006). 2006; Co Different from the ability-based model, the trait-based model conceptualizes EI as dispositions that is different from cognitive abilities (Petrides and Furnham, 2001). It consists of a broad arrange of non-cognitive abilities as stated by Bar-On (1997). Bar-On (1997, p. 14) referred EI as an array of noncognitive capabilities, competencies, and skills that inuence ones ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures. In line with Bar-Ons (1997) ideas, other scholars regard EI as a constellation of behavioural dispositions and self-perceptions concerning ones ability to recognize, process and utilise emotion-laden information (Zampetakis et al., 2008, p. 4). It reveals the extent to which a person perceives his or her abilities toward managing and using his or her emotion information to benet from it. The literature of trait-based EI also claim that EI is part of personality and locates at the bottom of personality rank (Petrides and Furnham, 2001; Sevdalis et al., 2007). The distinction between the ability-based and trait-based model of EI reects the reality within EI research on existing disagreement toward the construct of EI. This distinction is not only to create the problem in EI denition but also in its measurements and results (Petrides and Furnham, 2003). As a consequence it generates the dispute around the measurement approach even though the underlying theories are not different (Petrides and Furnham, 2003, 2006). This dispute roots from the fact that those two different models of EI manufacture two different constructs of EI that lead to differences in the operational denition (Petrides and Furnham, 2003). But, this distinction denition of EI should not conne us to develop EI research because these denitions tend to be complementary rather than contradictory (Ciarrochi et al., 2000, p. 540). In this study, we follow the denition provided by Davies et al. (1998). Their denition was not only based on Mayer and Saloveys (1997) denition (Wong and Law, 2002; Law et al., 2004, Law et al., 2008) but also based on a comprehensive study of EI literature (Law et al., 2008). According to Davies et al. (1998), EI is dened in term of four dimensions appraisal and expression of emotion in the self. . .appraisal and recognition of emotions in others. . . regulation of emotion in the self and others . . . the use of emotion to facilitate performance (Davies et al., 1998, pp. 990-991). The appraisal and expression of emotion in the self refers to ones abilities to evaluate and express his or her emotion while the appraisal and recognition of emotions in others demonstrates the abilities to better evaluate and recognize the emotions of other people. The regulation of emotion in ones self and others is related to ones abilities to better regulate his or her emotion and the emotion of others. Finally, the use of emotion to facilitate performance is related to ones abilities to use his or her emotion to achieve better personal performance and behaviors (Davies et al., 1998; Law et al., 2004). Styles of handling interpersonal conict Wall and Callister (1995, p. 517) described conict as the process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party. Rahim (1992, p. 16) dened it as the interactive process manifested in compatibility, disagreement, or dissonance within or between social entities. Based on such

denitions, we state that conict occurs when people perceive that their interests are not well-matched with other people in a group, rm, or society. There are various styles of handling interpersonal conict. Follett (1940) suggested that there are ve different styles of conict management: domination, compromise, integration avoidance and suppression. On the other hand, Blake and Mouton proposed a number of different styles of handling interpersonal conict such as: forcing, withdrawing, smoothing, compromising, and problem solving (Blake and Mouton, 1964; Rahim, 2002). Based on two criteria: concern for self and concern for others, Rahim (1983) divided styles of handling interpersonal conict into ve: integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising. Specically, the integrating style is characterized by individuals who have a high concern for themselves and for others, whereas individuals using an obliging style have a low concern for self and high concern for others. Those utilizing a dominating style have a high concern for self and low concern for others, while the avoiding style is characterized by a low concern for self and others. The compromising style has a medium concern for self and others (Rahim et al., 2002). Those typologies have been developed from the dual-concern model, which is a focal architecture in the conict management literature (Sorenson et al., 1999, p. 25). Of those ve conict management styles, this study focused on the integrating and compromising style by two reasons. First, people have their own preference of conict management styles when dealing with such conicts (Sternberg and Soriano, 1984). Previous research found that integrating and compromising styles are the most preferred styles of individuals when they face conicts (Trubisky et al., 1991; Lee, 2003). Second, the literature also showed that both styles have positive impact on promotion, productivity and job performance (Blake and Mouton, 1964; Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967; Jamieson and Thomas;, 1974; Jordan and Troth, 2002). However, Rahim (2000, p. 5) argued the weakness of this stream of studies and stated that unfortunately studies on conict resolution did not provide any clear link between conict management strategies and effectiveness. It is therefore necessary to reexamine the causes and effects of those integrating and compromising styles. Emotional intelligence and conict management styles According to Gross and Guerrero (2000), the integrating style has been considered a valuable way to manage interactions with other individuals in conict situations, facilitating proper resolution of conict and producing more productive results. For example, the integrating and compromising styles were the styles most frequently used by Korean respondents when they faced conicts (Ting-Toomey et al., 1991; Cho and Park, 1998). Scholars have noted that EI plays an important role in resolving conict functionally (Borisoff and Victor, 1998; Jordan and Troth, 2002, 2004). Jordan and Troth (2004, p. 196) argued that the ability to be aware of and manage emotions is also thought to facilitate functional than dysfunctional, conict resolution and consequently contribute to better team performance. We therefore assume that EI may lead people to choose more advantageous styles of handling interpersonal conicts using the integrating and compromising styles. This is derived from the fact that emotionally intelligent people have the ability to better manage and regulate their own emotions and the emotions of others (Mayer and Salovey, 1997; Davies et al., 1998; Ng et al., 2007; Mayer et al., 2008). In addition, emotionally intelligent people are those

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who consider their own emotions and the emotions of others as a basis in framing their relationships with other people (Mayer and Salovey, 1993, 1997). This characteristic might generate the empathy (Mayer et al., 1999; Schute et al., 2001) that encourages individuals to consider other interests when they want to solve conicts. Moreover, this empathy can lead people to be altruistic (Singer and Fehr, 2005; Declerck and Bogaert, 2008), cognizant of the existence of other people needs (Kamdar et al., 2006) and more skillful in anticipating what other people will behave and act (Singer and Fehr, 2005; Declerck and Bogaert, 2008). With these characteristics, emotionally intelligent people may regard other peoples needs and interests in solving conict. Thus, a win-win solution produced by integrating and compromising styles may become a priority in resolving the conicts among individuals in order to satisfy everyones interests. In addition, emotionally intelligent people are more like to select integrating and compromising styles because those styles may have more benecial outcomes in terms of the efcacy and suitability (Gross and Guerrero, 2000). This idea departs from the notion that the whole point of emotion was to alert us to danger or to opportunity and to focus our cognitive processing upon it (Andrade and May, 2004, p. 216). This may lead to the signal that emotionally intelligent people may have abilities to plainly think and focus on more advantageous styles of handling interpersonal conicts as those will benet for them. As integrating and compromising styles have positive effects on conict resolution (Hocker and Wilmot, 1998; Gross and Guerrero, 2000), we expect that the integrating and comprising styles may become a preference for a person high in EI in solving conicts. Based on the foregoing arguments we developed the following hypotheses: H1. Emotional intelligence is positively associated with integrating style. H2. Emotional intelligence is positively associated with compromising style. Conict management styles and job performance Organizational scholars have different perspectives about the relationship between conict and organizational performance. Some scholars have contended that organizational conict tended to hinder organizational performance and therefore should be avoided (Merton, 1949; Dyck et al., 1996; Robbins, 1991). Other scholars have regarded conict as functional to organizations if it is managed properly (Jehn, 1995, 1997). They argue that conict has an important role in optimizing organizational performance through developing critical evaluation which decreases the groupthink phenomenon by increasing thoughtful consideration of criticism and alternative solutions (Jehn, 1995, p. 260). To make conict more productive, Jordan and Troth (2002) further suggest that the style used to handle interpersonal conict is a crucial factor in successful conict resolution. The integrating style of conict management improves job performance when the solution to a conict would benet both parties. Both conicting parties are encouraged to satisfy their interests through exchanging information (Meyer, 2004). Satisfaction from resolving conicts may lead individuals to exert greater efforts in achieving performance. For example, Weider-Hateld and Hateld (1995) found that the integrating style had a strong association with job satisfaction and job performance. However, that study did not provide any clear link between integrating

style and job performance so that it lacked of theoretical and practical explanations. Rahim et al. (2001) also demonstrated that problem solving measured in terms of using more integrating style and less avoiding style, had a positive effect on the job performance. Although no empirical studies have presented the connection between compromising style and job performance, many studies have found that employees prefer to use the compromising style in resolving conict (e.g. Lee, 2003; Trubisky et al., 1991). Kim et al. (2007) compared three different groups in term of conict management styles at the workplace and found that the compromising style was used often when conicts existed between employees and supervisors. The compromising style may produce benecial results due to the fact that this style helps conicting people quickly nd solutions and provide benets to both sides through concessions (Hocker and Wilmot, 1998; Gross and Guerrero, 2000; Rahim, 2002). Quick and acceptable solutions resulting from using the compromising style may simulate individuals to exert greater effort in achieving performance. Based on those arguments, we propose that both the integrating and compromising styles of conict resolution will be positively related to job performance. H3. Integrating style is positively associated with job performance. H4. Compromising style is positively associated with job performance. Emotional intelligence and job performance The awareness of ones own and others emotions enables individuals to establish sound interpersonal relationships with others (Mayer and Salovey, 1993, 1997). People with this ability, therefore, should be able to recognize and understand what their emotions are and know how to apply them in improving their relationships with others (Mayer and Salovey, 1997). Such improved relationships may in turn lead to improved job performance. In addition, people with high emotional awareness may be more successful in dealing with uncertainty within their environment (Bar-On, 1997; Matthews et al., 2002). That ability has been found to have signicant effects in successfully managing stress (Bar-On, 1997; Gabel et al., 2005). Gabel et al. (2005) suggested that this ability may allow individuals to better control their personal feelings in dealing with stress, because of conict issues. High levels of EI have also been shown to affect individual communication skills (Goleman, 1998; Matthews et al., 2002). In this case, individuals regard their own emotions and the emotions of others as a basis to determine which styles are appropriate in communicating with others (Mayer and Salovey, 1993; Rozell et al., 2004), thus creating a positive occupational environment (Matthews et al., 2002, p. 480). Empirically, scholars have supported the positive impacts of EI on job performance (Goleman, 1998; Law et al., 2004; Mayer et al., 2000; Wong and Law, 2002). In marketing, EI is argued to be an important factor in increasing sales (Deeter-Schmelz and Sojka, 2003). A meta-analysis by Van Rooy and Viswesvaran (2004) found that EI was a key factor in overall job performance. Based on above discussions, the following hypothesis is developed: H5. Emotional intelligence is positively associated with job performance.

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Emotional intelligence and job performance: mediating effects of integrating and compromising styles As mentioned previously, we argued that there is a positive relationship between EI and job performance. Previous research has also shown that EI has a positive effect on both individual performance (Wong and Law, 2002) and team performance (Druskat and Wolff, 2001; Jordan et al., 2002; Jordan and Troth, 2004). These studies, however, did not clarify any of the mechanisms involved in EI and job performance. In this research, we explore the impact of EI on job performance through the integrating and compromising styles in managing conict. A team-based working environment is a common phenomenon in organizations. Although the diversied backgrounds of the team members are benecial for generating new ideas, conicts are also common in teams (Kabanoff, 1985; Jehn, 1997). Jehn (1995) argued that conict could lead to negative effects on performance since people suffer heavy cognitive loads and decreased cognitive ability. If conict can be managed properly, the consequence of functional conict can stimulate employees to explore opposing ideas more deeply as well as stimulate new thinking in improving performance (Dyck et al., 1996; Jehn, 1995, 1997). Emotionally intelligent individuals may facilitate the selection of an appropriate conict managing style that enhances their performance through supporting cognitive tasks (Andrade and May, 2004). Emotionally intelligent people are more likely to select integrating and compromising styles because of their efcacy and appropriateness for producing functional results (Gross and Guerrero, 2000). As mentioned previously, both integrating and compromising styles may have positive functional effects on job performance. Such conict resolution styles can result in solutions that benet both parties. As a result it may lead people to exert more efforts to achieve better performance. On the other hand, EI has been recognized to be able to produce positive results of solving conicts ( Jordan and Troth, 2004). The ability to manage emotion may help people optimize cognitive processing in order to explore and exploit positive opportunities (Andrade and May, 2004) of conicts while avoiding the negative outcomes. Hence, emotionally intelligent people may also select either integrating or compromising styles when they have conicts in order to maintain, even enhance their performance. Therefore, the following hypotheses are developed: H6. Integrating style will mediate the relationship between EI and job performance. H7. Compromising style will mediate the relationship between EI and job performance. Methods Sample We surveyed 300 government employees from two local districts and one province in Indonesia. We rst mailed an ofcial letter to the top ofcers of each organization and then contacted the focal individual by telephone to obtain approval for the data collection. After approval was granted, a member of the research team visited each organization and met the leaders of each organization to discuss the data collection procedure. Then, the questionnaires were distributed by immediate leaders to respondents. Filled out questionnaires were returned back to the immediate leaders by

putting into a sealed envelope. Then immediate leaders gave directly to a member of research team. To be included in the study, respondents should work together in the same room and interact directly with one another. With this characteristic, it will have strong implications to individual performances when conicts surface, even though they are not working as a team. It is because having conicts with other people will not only create high pressures and high tension but also lose their potential resources, for example asking helps from their friends. If those resources are missing then it may impact on individual performances because they will not have chances to ask for helps when having problems with their works. The nal sample consisted of 228 respondents. Most of the respondents were male (65.4 percent) and married (92.1 percent), and the majority of respondents were college degree holders (41.7 percent). Additionally, 87.3 percent of the respondents had been working for more than ten years. Measures Emotional intelligence. We employed a self-report measure of Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS; Wong and Law, 2002) to measure EI. The WLEIS consists of 16 items. Sample items included, I have a good sense of why I have certain feelings most of the time, and I always set goals for myself and then try my best to achieve them and I am able to control my temper and handle difculties rationally. The response format was a seven-point Likert scale with 1 representing strongly disagree and 7 representing strongly agree. Conrmatory factor analysis conducted by Wong and Law (2002) declared that EI could be treated as a single dimension (Wong and Law, 2002). The Cronbach alpha for this scale was 0.92, indicating that the instrument was reliable. Conict management styles. We employed the-11 item scale taken from the Rahim Organizational Conict Inventory-II (ROCI-II) (Rahim, 1983) to measure CMSs, including integrating as well as compromising styles. Sample items included: I collaborate with my boss to come up with decisions acceptable to us and I try to integrate my ideas with those of my boss come up with a decision jointly and I try to nd a middle course to resolve an impasse. The response format was a seven-point Likert scale with 1 representing strongly disagree and 7 representing strongly agree. Conrmatory factor analysis done by Rahim and Magner (1995) supported the construct validity of this ROCI II. The Cronbachs alpha for the integrating style and compromising style was 0.71 and 0.73 respectively. Job performance. We used ve items from Pearce and Porter (1986) to measure employees job performance. Sample items included overall performance and completing tasks on time. The response format was a seven-point Likert scale with 1 representing strongly disagree and 7 representing strongly agree. The Cronbachs alpha for the job performance factor was 0.84. Although adopting single informant as a data source is popular in management studies, it incurs the potential for common method bias. To deal with this possible risk and maintain data quality, we separated the predictor and criterion variables as well as randomly assign those measurement items in the questionnaire (Podsakoff et al., 2003). We also conducted a Harmans one-factor test of the inuence of common method bias (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986; Schriesheim, 1979). We entered all of the questionnaire items into a factor analysis. The results of factor analysis did not point out that there was

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one single factor that accounted for a signicant portion of the covariance. That means that common method variance was not a serious problem in this study (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986; Schriesheim, 1979). The possibility of non-response bias was checked using One-way ANOVA. The results showed that the comparison of the early respondents and late respondents were not signicantly different in age, education and seniority. Although the threat of non-response bias could not be ruled out, this comparison increased condence in the representative of the sample (Guthrie, 2001). Results Table I displays the means, standard deviations, and correlations among research variables. For the CMSs, the results showed that the highest mean was the integrating style (6.06), followed by the compromising style (5.92). We adopted multiple hierarchical regression to test the developed hypotheses. The regression results are found in Table II. H1 predicted that emotional intelligence was positively associated with integrating style whereas H2 stated that emotional intelligence was positively associated with compromising style. The results shown in Model 2 and Model 4 of Table II found that emotional intelligence had a positive and signicant relationship with both integrating style (b 0.38, p , 0.001) and compromising style (b 0.22, p , 0.01) respectively. Therefore, H1 and H2 were supported. H3 stated that the integrating style was positively associated with job performance and H4 predicted that compromising styles was positively associated with job performance. The results shown in Model 6 of Table II indicated that integrating style was positively and signicantly associated with job performance (b 0.31 p , 0.001), but the compromising style was not signicantly associated with job performance (b 0.07, p . 0.05). Therefore, H3 was supported and H4 was not supported. Moreover, H5 stated that EI was positively associated with job performance. The regression results displayed in Model 7 of Table II indicated that emotional intelligence had a positive and signicant relationship with job performance (b 0.53, p , 0.001). Thus, H5 was supported. To test H6 and H7, we followed the steps developed by Baron and Kenny (1986). H6 stated that integrating style would mediate the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. As mentioned above, emotional intelligence was positively and signicantly associated with integrating style at Model 2 and job performance at Model 7. After inputting those two variables into Model 8, we found the mediator (the integrating styles) as well as independent variable (emotional intelligence) had a signicant effects on the job performance (b 0.16, p , 0.01; b 0.47, p , 0.001) in Table II. However, the coefcient of emotional intelligence in the Model 8 was decreased by 0.06 from 0.53 to 0.47. Hence, it can be concluded that the integrating style partially mediated the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. We also conducted the Sobel test (Sobel, 1982; Baron and Kenny, 1986; Preacher and Hayes, 2004; Preacher and Leonardelli, 2009) to further test the signicance of the indirect effects of our independent variable. The results of the Sobel test conrmed that there was no mediation effect (z-value 2.38; p . 0.01). In addition, those provide further support to the results using Baron and Kennys (1986) method. Based on those tests, we can conclude that the integrating style partially mediated the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance.

Variables 1.35 1.95 5.00 4.09 3.83 5.47 6.06 5.92 5.48 2 0.031 2 0.205 * * 2 0.066 2 0.099 2 0.041 0.097 0.026 0.041 0.209 * * 2 0.122 0.306 * * 2 0.005 0.003 2 0.079 2 0.055 2 0.278 * * 0.524 * * 2 0.027 2 0.073 2 0.036 2 0.005 2 0.237 * * 0.186 * * 0.113 0.209 * * 0.153 * 2 0.014 2 0.067 2 0.102 2 0.033 0.374 * * 0.233 * * 0.545 * * 0.48 0.26 1.38 1.10 0.55 0.80 0.59 0.75 0.87

Mean

SD

Sex Marital status Age Education Seniority Emotional intelligence Integrating style Compromising style Job performance

0.403 * * 0.357 * *

0.223 * *

Notes: *p , 0.05; * *p , 0.01; n 228

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Table I. Means, standard deviations, and correlations for all variables

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Independent variables 0.11 0.03 2 0.01 0.12 2 0.03 0.10 0.03 0.00 0.04 2 0.05 0.38 * * * 0.05 2.53 * * 0.04 1.88 0.04 2 0.05 0.09 0.21 * * 2 0.08 0.04 2 0.05 0.10 0.17 * 2 0.09 0.22 * * 0.08 2 0.04 0.07 0.20 * * 0.00

Sex Marital status Age Education Seniority Emotional intelligence Integrating style Compromising style R2 DR 2 F DF 0.03 1.24 0.17 0.14 7.21 * * * 36.05 * * * 0.10 0.05 4.11 * * 11.42 * *

Notes: *p , 0.05; * *p , 0.01; * * *p , 0.001; n 228

Table II. Results of hierarchical regression analysis for predicting job performance and CMSs Integrating style Model 1 Model 2 b b Dependent variables Compromising style Model 3 Model 4 Model 5 b b B Model 6 b 0.04 2 0.05 0.07 0.15 * * 0.01 0.31 * * * 0.07 0.16 0.11 5.66 * * * 14.52 * * * Job performance Model 7 b 0.07 2 0.05 0.09 0.09 2 0.03 0.53 * * * 0.31 0.27 16.29 * * * 84.75 * * * Model 8 b 0.05 2 0.06 0.09 0.08 2 0.02 0.47 * * * 0.16 * * 0.33 0.29 15.34 * * * 47.01 * * *

The same approach was used to test H7. H7 stated that compromising style would mediate the relationship between EI and job performance. As mentioned above, the results shown in Model 6 of Table II revealed that compromising style was not signicant, but positively associated with job performance (b 0.07, p . 0.05). This result conrmed that one of the requirements from Baron and Kenny (1986) was not fullled so that no further test was needed. Therefore, it can be concluded that compromising style did not mediate the relationship between EI and job performance. Then, H7 was not supported. Discussion and limitations This study aimed to investigate the relationships among EI, CMSs and job performance at selected local governments in Indonesia. After analyzing the data from 228 civil servants, this study found that EI could be an antecedent of CMSs in terms of integrating and compromising style. Moreover, we also illustrated the direct effects of integrating style on job performance. This study also conrmed that integrating style could partially mediate the relationship between EI and job performance. Finally, our results demonstrated that EI had similar roles in public organizations as within private organizations, specically for its impact on job performance. This research was valuable as previous studies were less focused on the antecedents of conict management styles, and as a direct test of the effects of conict management styles on job performance. Further, the mediating effects of two conict management styles (integrating and compromising styles) on EI and job performance had previously lacked attention. Finally, this research was also valuable, as it had veried that EI within public sectors could provide benecial results as discovered in private organizations. The results of this study revealed that subordinates at the three selected local government agencies in Indonesia tended to use integrating style, followed by compromising style. These results were similar to a previous study by Ting-Toomey et al. (1991). They found that the integrating style and compromising style were used the most by Koreans. This nding was also supported by Trubisky et al. (1991) who argued that in collectivist cultures, people tended to use integrating and compromising styles more often than in individualist cultures. Such ndings are supported within this study as well. Specically, Indonesia is a country that is considered to be collectivist (Hofstede, 1984; Jetten et al., 2002). Maintaining harmony is a major function of the majority of people in a workplace. A disruption of this harmony could carry severe consequences, such as isolation from the social relationships within the workplace. That situation is strengthened by Javanese culture (Java is the biggest ethnic in Indonesia) that encourages people to maintain harmony and tolerate to other people (Yumarma, 1996). This study also found that EI had a signicant and positive association with integrating and compromising styles. EI functioned both as an antecedent for peoples decision in adopting integrating and compromising styles in conict. Emotionally intelligent people were more likely to select both styles because they might have believed that those styles would solve conicts productively. It may be driven by the fact the ability to manage emotion may help people optimize their cognitive tasks to decide which style can resolve conicts with positive functional results (Andrade and May, 2004). In addition, emotionally intelligent people tends to consider their own and

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the emotions of others as a basis in framing their relationships with other people (Mayer and Salovey, 1993, 1997). These characteristics may lead people to always put other peoples interests as an important consideration in solving conicts. Thus, a win-win solution produced by integrating and compromising styles may become a priority in resolving the conicts among individuals in order to satisfy everyones interests. We also found that the integrating style was positively and signicantly associated with job performance. With this integrating style, people expected to produce a win-win solution so that it would be benecial to both conicting parties (Meyer, 2004). In addition to that, Meyer (2004) further explained that integrating style stimulates conicting people to share out information in order to solve conicts that satisfy to both. The satisfaction in resolving conict had led people to exert more efforts to achieve better performance. Since there is no previous study that directly investigates the relationship between integrating style and job performance in public organizations, our nding can enrich the empirical evidence. One important nding of this study was that the compromising style was not signicant, but positively associated with job performance. According to its denition, the compromising style lies in the middle of concern for the self and others (Rahim, 2002). Using this style, both parties give up some needs to make a mutually acceptable decision (Rahim et al., 2002, p. 307). Such a sacrice of needs might have caused a proportion of the respondents to become unsatised, which could have reduced their motivation to achieve better performance. This study also showed that EI was positively and signicantly associated with job performance, integrating style, and compromising style. Such ndings are consistent with previous empirical evidences (Goleman, 1998; Mayer et al., 2000; Wong and Law, 2002; Jordan and Troth, 2002; Law et al., 2004; Yu et al., 2006). In addition, this study found that integrating style partially mediated the relationship between EI and job performance. These nding indicated that EI, both directly and indirectly, inuence job performance. These ndings make sense, since most of the conict is inevitable and is commonly present while one is doing his or her job. When conict appears, EI can facilitate people to select the appropriate conict management styles in term of integrating style that can enhance the job performance. In this part, EI presents indirect affects on job performance via integrating style. Emotionally intelligent people have the ability to successfully face uncertain environments (Bar-On, 1997; Matthews et al., 2002) and have better communication skills (Goleman, 1998; Matthews et al., 2002). Other scholars contend that EI leads to the success of work under certain situations, for instance, products that involve feelings and aesthetics t well when created by emotionally intelligent people (Mayer and Salovey, 1997; Matthews et al., 2002). EI could thus directly affect job performance. The results of this study can be used to support the arguments within public organizations that EI is a major factor for improving job performance. As public services, ofcial governments are faced with different people with different needs, wants and characteristics. Those may be sources of stress and anger. However, as a service delivery agency to society, public servants are required to present the excellent services to the society even though stress and anger are present in order to maintain their performance. Their services should satisfy the desires of society because it can determine the level of quality of service that they have delivered to the society

(vretveit, 2005). Thus, emotionally intelligent public servants could deliver better services to the society as they have a good ability to handle stress (Bar-On, 1997; Gabel et al., 2005). The ndings of this study have several practical implications. First, we identied the importance of EI in improving employee performance with regard to service delivery within the public sector. Such information is also useful in the formation of training programs to improve government employee EI. As mentioned by previous te scholars, EI reects abilities that could be increased by training (Elfenbein, 2006; Co and Miners, 2006). Therefore, in order to increase public servant EI, EI training is suggested. Our results also inform and suggest that local government in Indonesia should rank EI as one of important selection criteria in recruiting new civil servants. Since the job characteristics of civil servants tend to be social in nature, it is probable that people with better EI might help improve social welfare. In addition, the results also show that an integrating style is valuable to civil servant performance. Those public agencies therefore may provide training courses to nurture employees skill in integrating style, which is helpful to their job performance. Several limitations were encountered during the completion of this research. First, although our target area, Java, is the most important region with the highest population among the regions of Indonesia, this study selected only two government agencies and one province in Indonesia. For these reasons, the results might lack generalizability. Future research should consider extending the sampling size as well as collecting data at other cultural area to test our arguments. Second, the questionnaire survey was conducted using self-rating evaluation. Law et al. (2008, p. 60) mentioned that one of advantageous of a self-report measure is feedback about ones ability to handle emotions may be very frequent in social interactions and thus ones evaluation of this type of ability may be more accurate than evaluations of other types of abilities, such as reasoning and logical deduction. Nevertheless, self-reporting assessment may have some drawbacks such as misleading self-perception, positive affectivity, common method variance, and social desirability, which may produce bias of answers and incorrect ndings (Podsakoff et al., 2003; Law et al., 2008). To deal with this problem, we applied an anonymous self-administration for questionnaire survey suggested by Podsakoff et al. (2003). We also separated the predictor and criterion variables as well as randomly assign those measurement items in the questionnaire (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Those questionnaire designs try to reduce the potential problems from common method variance and social desirability. We also did a discriminant validity test for research constructs. In doing so, we set the correlations between the constructs in our study as zero, and compared these models with competing models in which correlations between constructs were xed as 1. The Chi-squares differences among EI, integrating style, compromising style and job performance were all statistically signicant (EI vs integrating style has Dx2 113.668, Ddf 1, p , 0.001; EI vs compromising style has Dx2 106.365, Ddf 1, p , 0.001; Integrating style vs compromising style has Dx2 109.658, Ddf 1, p , 0.001; EI vs job performance has Dx2 35:183; Ddf 1; p , 0.001; integrating style vs job performance has Dx2 82; Ddf 1; p , 0.001; and compromising style vs job performance has Dx2 46:719; Ddf 1; p , 0.001). Such ndings indicate our

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constructs have adequate discriminate validity (Pedhazui and Schmelkin, 1991). This may relieve the risk of social desirability to some extent. Furthermore, self-reported measures have been developed and commonly applied to measure EI by previous relevant studies (Barchard and Hakstian, 2004; Mayer and Stevens, 1994; Schutte et al., 1998; Goldenberg et al., 2006). Our measurements, WLEIS, itself has been veried in terms of reliability, convergent, discriminant and criterion validity (e.g. Law et al., 2004; Wong and Law, 2002; also see Ng et al., 2007 for validation results of WLEIS). WLEIS also shows a prospective measurement because of its briefness (Ng et al., 2007), and its relatively lower cost and shorter time to ll out (Law et al., 2008). We admit the weakness of adopting self-rating measurements and its potential inuence on our ndings. The potential risk may not be signicant, however, based on our research design and post hoc analysis. Certainly future studies should adopt multiple sources in data collection to minimize such bias. Third, this research was conducted in a specic region. We found that a regional culture actually plays an important role at which we did not consider at the beginning. Therefore, future scholars should investigate the moderating effect of regional culture on the relationship between EI and CMSs and the direct effect of regional culture on CMSs in the future. The regional culture, especially Javanese culture, represented by the culture of keselarasan (Yumarma, 1996), is important in guiding behavior of members of a society and organization in Java. Through this study, the impact of keselarasan on preferred conict management styles has been claried in order to provide knowledge and guidelines on how to behave when facing interpersonal conict. Finally, this study only focused on integrating and compromising styles. Future studies should investigate other styles such as avoiding, dominating and withdrawing styles that are more negative in sense compared to integrating and comprising styles in the hope to verify whether emotionally intelligent people try to avoid those negative styles or not since those may negatively affect job performance.
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