The Influence of Gender on Conflict Management Styles: A Study among Employees of Public Banks in Ethiopia

Asemamaw Tilahun Debas, E. A. Narayana

Abstract: The objective of this exploratory study is to determine the influence of gender on conflict management styles of employees of Public Sector Banks in Ethiopia. The study identified gender as independent variable and conflict management styles of avoiding, compromising, dominating, integrating and obliging as dependent variables. Using Rahims Organizational Conflict Inventory (ROCI-II) instrument, survey data were collected from 301 employees working in Ethiopian public banks. The result indicates that gender had a significant impact on the compromising and integrating conflict management style preference of employees, meanwhile, these differences could not be found for avoiding, dominating and obliging conflict handling styles. This study has given a more usable picture of the impact of gender on conflict management styles.

Keywords: Gender, Conflict management, Public banks, Interpersonal Conflict