ABSTRACT
As discussed in Chapter 2, organizational confl ict was classifi ed as intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup on the basis of levels. This chapter describes the nature, dynamics, sources, and management of intrapersonal confl ict. Psychologists have studied confl ict at the intrapersonal level extensively. They defi ne confl ict as “a situation in which a person is motivated to engage in two or more mutually exclusive activities” (Murray, 1968, p. 220; see also Bazerman, Tenbrumsel, & Wade-Benzone, 1988; Mosak & LeFevre, 2003). According to communication scholar Roloff (1987), this confl ict “occurs when there is incompatibility or inconsistency among an individual’s cognitive elements [which] implies that a new cognitive element is at variance with a prior explanation or expectation. Thus intrapersonal confl ict refl ects a challenge to a person’s basis for prediction and control resulting in greater uncertainty” (p. 489).
