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Introduction
The construction industry is developing rapidly and occupies a pivotal economic position in China. It is also clear that cost overruns, delays and decreased profit margins are prominent phenomena (Chan and Kumaraswamy, 1997; Meng, 2012). Numerous practices and studies have sought ways to reduce waste and improve construction project performance for project success (Chanmeka et al., 2012; Chou et al., 2010; Meng, 2012). Among these researches, conflict, especially interpersonal conflict, is argued to be an important influencing factor for project success (Brockman, 2014; Cheung and Chuah, 2000; Senaratne and Udawatta, 2013). Hahn (2000) pointed out that the frequency of interpersonal conflict at work ranges from 25 to 50 per cent in an employee’s work day. Managers spend nearly 30-42 per cent of their time dealing with conflict between employees (Bobinski, 2006; Denny, 2005). Brockman (2014) stated that unresolved detrimental interpersonal conflict on the jobsite has yet to be fully realized.
However, interpersonal conflict in construction project teams is unavoidable. This is because construction project team is a project-based organization and involves a number of different parties, such as an owner, a contractor and a supplier (Senaratne and Udawatta, 2013). Every party has their own interest. When one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party, they will feel threatened and stressed. In addition, diverse ideas, values and beliefs among these parties facilitate poor interpersonal relationships. Interpersonal conflict on the job is identified as one of the top occupational job stressors (Narayanan et al., 1999; Rainey, 1995) and is strongly linked to a reduction of project performance (Appelberg et al., 1996). If conflict is not handled properly, it could escalate, and, furthermore, result in undesirable outcomes related to time delays, cost overruns and quality defects in the project (Leung et al., 2005). Thus, construction projects exist within an adversarial environment in which interpersonal conflict is unavoidable.
Given the unavoidable characteristic and the detrimental influence of the interpersonal conflict, a large number of researches have tried to explore the underlying mechanism of interpersonal conflict on construction project performance. Brockman (2014) used qualitative research to explore the triggers and consequences of interpersonal conflict on a construction site. Brockman’s (2014) study confirmed interpersonal conflict as an important...