The Method Effects of Negative Affectivity on the Association between Task Conflict and Relationship Conflict: Using Latent-Variable Models

Abstract

This study investigated whether negative affectivity (NA) causes bias in self-report measures of task conflict and relationship conflict or whether NA has a real, non-artifactual association with task and relationship conflict. The method effects of NA were examined using latent-variable models, with data collected from 64 project teams comprising a total of 313 undergraduate students. The results of this study indicated that NA had biasing effects on the measurement models for both conflict types. However, the biasing effects of NA were minimal. That is, although NA was significantly related to both task conflict and relationship conflict, NA did not account for much of the variance shared by task conflict and relationship conflict.