Moving on or digging deeper: Regulatory mode and interpersonal conflict resolution.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Conflict resolution necessitates shifting between opposing motivational states.
• Individual differences in the motivation for such shifts remain under-researched.
• Regulatory Mode Theory (RMT) distinguishes between locomotion (movement) and assessment (evaluation) motivations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether individual differences in locomotion and assessment motivations influence conflict resolution processes.
• To examine the role of locomotion predominance in facilitating interpersonal reconciliation.
• To apply RMT to understand fundamental motivations underlying conflict resolution.

Main Methods:

• Five studies utilized diverse methods, including hypothetical scenarios, personal conflict recall, verbal narratives, and real-world roommate discussions.
• Chronic and experimentally induced individual differences in locomotion predominance were assessed.
• A meta-analysis synthesized findings across all studies.

Main Results:

• A predominance of locomotion over assessment consistently facilitated interpersonal conflict resolution across studies.
• Higher locomotion motivation was linked to a greater propensity to reconcile.
• Assessment motivation, without strong locomotion, appeared to obstruct reconciliation.

Conclusions:

• Individual differences in the motivation to "move on" (locomotion) versus "dig deeper" (assessment) significantly impact conflict resolution.
• Understanding these motivational differences offers insights beyond instrumental conflict resolution approaches.
• RMT provides a valuable framework for analyzing the fundamental individual motivations driving conflict dynamics.