Personality and Conflict Style: Effects on Membership Duration in Voluntary Associations

Voluntary organizations, which differ from other organizations in the way they reward and retain members, can easily suffer setbacks from a loss of membership. Poorly managed conflict is often a source of attrition. This study examines the relationship between personality, conflict styles, and membership duration of people who attend or have attended churches (primarily Protestant churches), the most common form of voluntary association in America. Most of the Big 5 personality traits significantly predict conflict styles and/or membership duration. For example, people who are extraverted, agreeable, and conscientious are more likely to use a collaborative conflict style than those who are not. People who are high in both agreeableness and conscientiousness are less likely to quit an organization when conflict arises than those who are medium to low in either of these traits. The relationships between conflict styles and membership duration vary according to gender. For example, men who often use a competitive conflict style are more likely to stay in an organization than are women who tend to use this style.