Content area
Full text
ABSTRACT In this article, we proffer new theoretical ideas regarding how the structural features of e-mail make it more likely that disputes escalate when people communicate electronically compared to when they communicate face-to-face or via the telephone. Building upon Rubin et al.'s (1994) conflict escalation model, we propose a new conceptual framework that articulates: (i) the structural properties of e-mail communication; (ii) the impact of these properties on conflict process effects; and (iii) how process effects, in turn, trigger conflict escalation. Propositions specify the nature of relationships among process effects and the components of conflict escalation. We also discuss how the extent of familiarity between individuals acts as a moderator of these relationships. Our conceptual framework, the dispute-exacerbating model of e-mail (DEME), is designed to be a foundation for future empirical research.
KEYWORDS computer-mediated communication * conflict escalation * conflict management * dispute resolution * e-mail
As e-mail communication has become more prevalent, it is being used as a fundamental communication tool by millions of people around the world. E-mail is used to organize meetings and manage virtual work teams (Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1999), discuss work-related proposals and make announcements (Stoddard et al., 1997), and solve problems (Siegel et al., 1986). Inevitably, e-mail also is being used as a vehicle to communicate about disputes (Landry, 2000). Because we have come to rely on e-mail more and more in the normal course of our day-to-day work, many disputes are waged via e-mail. But, are the dynamics of conflict management changed by the use of e-mail?
Our motivation to explore this topic was a result of qualitative observations from numerous individuals who described e-mail communications that had spun out of control, as well as our own personal experiences with e-mail conflicts. In one case, there was a dispute with an editor of a journal about an aspect of a revision. Each side had been presenting arguments back and forth until the editor, who was known personally, e-mailed that he was 'ending our relationship.' What had until then seemed like a difficult - yet reasonable - debate had turned into a relationship-ending conflict. We mentioned our observations about e-mail conflict to others and many told similar stories about disputes that began as small differences between the parties,...