Can Emotional Intelligence Mediate the Relationship Between Conflict and Conflict Management Style Among Students?

Abstract

Emotional intelligence (EI) acts as a mediator between conflict and conflict management by influencing how individuals perceive, process, and respond to emotions in conflict situations. The aim of this study was to examine the role of EI in managing the relationship between Conflict and Conflict Management Style (CMS) among postgraduate students of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Data was gathered from 80 respondents, but only 42 of them responded to the questionnaire. Standardized scales were used to measure key concepts, and the data was analyzed using descriptive analyses, correlation coefficients, and mean ranking to test the data-model fit. The findings indicate that there may not be a statistically significant relationship between Conflict and CMS (Conflict Management Styles) at the conventional significance level of 0.05. However, the relationship between conflict, emotional intelligence (EI), and conflict management style (CMS) while conflict and emotional intelligence together have a significant impact on CMS, the direct effect of conflict on CMS is not statistically significant when accounting for the influence of emotional intelligence. Thus, this research concludes the importance of emotional intelligence in conflict resolution and suggests that developing emotional intelligence skills may be valuable for improving conflict management strategies for students.