Interpersonal conflicts at work and psychosocial characteristics of employees

Associations of psychosocial factors with interpersonal conflicts at work were studied in a sample drawn from the Finnish population using a mailed questionnaire. The sample consisted of 14,578 employees aged 24-64 years. The frequency of interpersonal conflicts at work was equal among both sexes. Our results suggest that occupational factors such as hectically paced work, monotonous work and white collar status are associated with interpersonal conflicts at work; and more conflicts are found in the younger age-groups. In the multivariate analyses, dissatisfaction with life, daily stress, neuroticism and hostility were found to be the significant risk factors for interpersonal conflicts at work for both sexes, whereas a higher educational level was a considerable risk factor only for men, and low self-assurance only for women. Among men the combination of hectically paced and monotonous work was also found to be a significant risk factor. The results indicate complexity of the concept of human relationships at work, and the importance of both occupational factors and psychological characteristics.