Relationships Among Emotional Regulation, Conflict Management Style, and Language Ability

Abstract

The present study investigated the relationships among language ability, emotional regulation, and conflict management style in college students. 37 undergraduate students completed a series of four behavioral assessments aimed at measuring their nonverbal IQ (Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, 2nd Edition, KBIT-2), emotional regulation (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ), language ability (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 4th Edition, PPVT4) and conflict management style (Dutch Test for Conflict Handling, DUTCH). Analyses showed that language ability was significantly related to the forcing conflict management style, while prosocial ability was related to compromising conflict management style. Many relationships were trending towards significance, such as compromising and language, language ability and prosocial ability as well as peer problems and compromising. Evaluations of the results suggest that emotional intelligence and social competence may play a role in the relationships at hand. Further research is necessary in order to get a more conclusive depiction of the relationships among language ability, emotional regulation, and conflict management style.