Influence of Conflict Resolution Training on Conflict Handling Styles of College Students

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of conflict resolution skills training on conflict handling styles, and conflict orientation of college students. Conflict handling styles was measured by the Thomas-Kilmann MODE instrument, while Conflict orientation was measured by conflict orientation survey instrument. A sample of 135 was used as the control group during the posttest and a sample of 133 was used as the experimental group during the posttest. Conflict handling training was carried on the experimental group only. Paired sample test between the pretest and posttest indicated that conflict resolution skills training had no statistically significant impact on conflict handling styles. However, paired sample test showed statistically significant difference on conflict orientation of the participants of the study. This study recommends that any conflict training session should be designed with consideration of the audience being trained on basis of their age, life experiences, nature of the conflict and the duration of the training.