Behavior modeling : the evaluation of a program to develop conflict management skills

• Main Author: Grissom, Charles Michael
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: W&M ScholarWorks 1986
• Subjects: Adult and Continuing Education
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539618482; https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1692&context=etd

The purpose of this study was to determine if the behavior modeling approach to training could be used effectively to teach managers conflict management skills. The researcher explored whether behavior modeling training made a significant difference in the participants' conflict management behaviors and whether videotaped feedback to participants enhanced their gain scores.;Forty-eight managers from an industrial organization in central Virginia were the subjects for this study. The managers were invited to participate following a needs assessment identifying conflict management as a skill deficit.;The design used for this study was a combination of the pretest-posttest control group design and the posttest only control group design. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental treatment groups: Group I--behavior modeling training/no video feedback (N = 24) and Group II--behavior modeling training/video feedback (N = 24). Each group was broken into two sub-groups (N = 12). One received a pretest and posttest, the other received a posttest only. The eight dependent variables Describe the Problem, Ask for Reasons and Listen Attentively, Define Needs, Generate Alternatives, Evaluate Alternatives, Select an Alternative, Follow-up, and Overall Rating, were collected using assessment center methodology.;It was hypothesized that (1) behavior modeling would be an effective approach for training managers in conflict management skills, and (2) that videotaping participants' role plays for use as feedback would produce greater gains than behavior modeling without videotaped feedback.;It was concluded that behavior modeling training significantly improved scores on the eight dependent measures. However, behavior modeling training with videotaped feedback had no additional effect on the dependent measures.