Performance goals in conflictual social interactions: Towards the distinction between two modes of relational conflict regulation

Nicolas Sommet (1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 2, 2, 5) , Céline Darnon (6) , Gabriel Mugny (3) , Alain Quiamzade (3) , Caroline Pulfrey (2) , Benoit Dompnier (2) , Fabrizio Butera (2)

1 Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l'Education
2 UNIL - Université de Lausanne = University of Lausanne
3 UNIGE - Université de Genève = University of Geneva
4 University of Rochester [USA]
5 Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology
6 LAPSCO - Laboratoire de psychologie sociale et de psychologie cognitive

Socio-cognitive conflict has been defined as a situation of confrontation with a disagreeing other. Previous research suggests that individuals can regulate conflict in a relational way, namely by focusing on social comparison between relative levels of competences. Relational conflict regulation has been described as yielding particularly negative effects on social interactions and learning, but has been understudied. The present research addresses the question of the origin of relational conflict regulation by introducing a fundamental distinction between two types of regulation, one based on the affirmation of one's own point of view and the invalidation of the other's (i.e., " competitive " regulation), the other corresponding to the protection of self-competence via compliance (i.e., " protective " regulation). Three studies show that these modes of relational conflict regulation result from the endorsement of distinct performance goals, respectively performance-approach goals (trying to outperform others) and performance-avoidance goals (avoiding performing more poorly than others). Theoretical implications for the literature on both conflict regulation and achievement goals are discussed.

Mots clés: performance-approach goals; performance-avoidance goals; relational conflict regulation; competition

Domaines: Psychologie

Nicolas Sommet, Céline Darnon, Gabriel Mugny, Alain Quiamzade, Caroline Pulfrey, et al.. Performance goals in conflictual social interactions: Towards the distinction between two modes of relational conflict regulation. British Journal of Social Psychology, 2014, 53, ⟨10.1111/bjso.12015⟩. ⟨hal-01349390⟩