Common factors contributing to workplace conflict

A range of factors can contribute to workplace conflict:

• structural factors
• cognitive factors
• personal factors.

These 3 factors work in combination and are interconnected. Below is a description of each factor. These factors can influence one another, and conflict arises when the ‘perfect storm’ exists of the 3factors simultaneously.

It’s important to find out what is causing conflict the workplace. There could be structural factors (e.g. authority or lack of authority to make decisions, access to resources), or cognitive factors (e.g. different preferences or communication styles) creating conflict. Or it could be personal factors (e.g. related to personality traits).

Structural factors 

These conflicts are caused by differences in people’s interests, goals or power. For example, conflict can emerge over scarce resources or who should make the final decision about an issue. 

Structural factors such as job insecurity and job design (e.g. job demands, tasks) can also contribute to conflict. 

Research has found people in positions of authority are frequently exposed to conflict. This is often due to these people being responsible for making final decisions, enforcing decisions or managing poor performance. 

These conflicts can also be influenced by identity differences (e.g. ethnic, race, religious, age and gender differences). 

Cognitive factors

These conflicts are caused by things such as different ways of thinking, processing information and communication styles. Conflicts can arise because individuals have access, or pay attention, to different information. Or they may have different ways of interpreting or communicating information.

Like structural factors, these conflicts can also be influenced by cultural or other differences. For example, cultural, gender or age differences may affect a person’s access to information or how they interpret that information. 

Personal factors

These conflicts tend to be related to people’s feelings, moods, emotions or personality traits (i.e. a person’s typical way of feeling, thinking and behaving). These factors can contribute to conflict by magnifying other types of differences or by escalating structural or cognitive conflicts.