The relationship between personality traits and conflict management of managers in sports teams of Fars province

Dissertation for Master's degree (M.A)

Strategy: Sports Management

Relationship between personality traits and conflict management of managers in sports teams of Fars province

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between personality traits and conflict management strategies of managers of sports teams in Fars province. This is a descriptive, correlational research that was conducted using the field method. The statistical sample of this research included all the presidents and vice-presidents of sports boards of Fars province (n = 92). The tools used in this research included the questionnaire of individual characteristics, the short-form Neo Personality Characteristics Questionnaire (NEO-FFI) made by Costa and McCree (1992) and the Robbins Conflict Management Questionnaire (1991). The reliability coefficient of the five factors of personality characteristics fluctuated from 0.58 to 0.69 with Cronbach's alpha method, and the reliability coefficient of three conflict management strategies fluctuated from 0.58 to 0.75 with Cronbach's alpha method. Descriptive statistics, simple correlation coefficient, and multiple regression methods were used for data analysis, and all research hypotheses were calculated at a significance level of p?0.05. The results showed that there is a significant positive relationship between the personality trait of neuroticism and the strategy of non-confrontation and control, and a significant negative relationship with the strategy of solution orientation. Also, there is a significant positive relationship between the personality traits of extroversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness with the strategy of solution orientation. A significant negative relationship was observed between agreeable personality trait and non-confrontation and control strategy, and a significant positive relationship was observed between conscientiousness and non-confrontation strategy. In other cases, no relationship was observed. According to the results of the research, it is suggested that in the selection and appointment of managers in various sports organizations, their personality traits should be considered. Keywords: personality traits, conflict management strategies, sports teams.Introduction

In all periods of human life, there has been conflict, conflict and friction between the interests of the boss and subordinates, worker and employer, master and serf. Conflict is a reality that mankind has been familiar with throughout history, but unfortunately, due to the lack of proper management, most of the conflicts have turned into militancy and hostility, and today human societies look at conflict as a negative phenomenon due to the unpleasant background they have (Maqemi, 2015). Conflict will occur again and will maintain its permanent presence in the organization. So it is not a question of whether there will be conflict or not, because there will be anyway. The important thing is how the problem is dealt with and handled (Mullins [1], 1990). Conflict is actually not a bad thing, if it is managed correctly, it can have significant positive consequences and can be a life-giving and energizing force in groups and organizations, and it has even been determined that conflict can minimize the destructive effects of win-loss situations in the organization (Mullins, 2002).

Some behavioral science scholars believe that work group diversity affects performance through conflict. In behavioral texts, two types of conflict are mentioned, one is emotional conflict and the other is task conflict. A management that can reduce emotional conflict and manage task conflict appropriately will be more successful. In this way, managers should be aware of the origin of conflicts and how diversity affects the conflict and know the appropriate ways to deal with it (Alwani, Danaei Fard, 1380).

The styles that each manager chooses to resolve the conflict is influenced by their unique characteristics such as their personality, attitudes, leadership style, gender, competencies, and the amount of their power and authority and the role they play in the conflict (Ezdi, 1379). One of the most important factors that determine the way people deal with others is personality. For example, introverted sports managers avoid slow-yielding sports activities that lack promotional programs and are sometimes complicated and painful. They resist fundamental changes and developments and like to maintain the status quo and organize the current plans.Managers who have an extroverted personality are strong in creating effective relationships between employees, especially coaches and athletes; They are masters in speech and expression techniques and try to adapt their behavioral methods to the culture of the organization under their supervision and the interests of subordinates (Nadrian Jahormi, 2016).

Hersi and Blanchard[2] assume personality and style as synonyms and believe that "a person's personality or leadership style is the pattern of behavior that he shows when directing the activities of others". Based on this, people's personality largely determines their conflict resolution method (Hersey and Blanchard, 1972).

In many researches, the relationship between personality characteristics that are within the scope of the five-factor theory (Costa and McCree [3] 1992) and conflict resolution methods have been investigated. The five-factor theory of personality was developed by McCrae and Costa. They developed a program that identified five personality factors, known as the "Powerful Five" or "Big Five[4]". These five factors include neuroticism [5], extroversion [6], open-mindedness [7], agreeableness [8] and conscientiousness [9] (Ford Wood and Bell [10], 2008).

There are many management positions in sports. Those who occupy these positions have a wide range of management practices and human characteristics. Some managers are successful and others are unsuccessful; It should be seen what makes a manager successful and in other words, what makes someone really a manager? (Jackson and Palmer[11], 1988).

As stated, conflict is an inevitable aspect of organizational life. What is important in the meantime is a rational approach to organizational conflicts. As one of the important sports centers of the country, the sports teams in the provincial centers need managers with positive personality traits as well as high intelligence so that in times of crisis and conflict within the organization, they can deal with it correctly and resolve the conflicts well by adopting the right methods. Therefore, in the present study, an attempt is made to investigate the relationship between personality traits and conflict management strategies in managers of sports teams in Fars province. The main trends such as continuous changes, greater diversity in the composition of employees, more teamwork (in the form of autonomous and virtual teams), less face-to-face communication (more electronic interaction), the global economy with more intercultural exchanges make the occurrence of conflict inevitable (Kreitner and Kinkey [12], 2001, quoted by Rezaian, 1382).

Therefore, conflict and conflict are inevitable phenomena in human life and necessary for social life. In the meantime, the organization, with its nature, is a fertile environment for nurturing and growing all kinds of conflicts and disagreements. The existence of different people with different personality traits, needs, beliefs, expectations and perceptions has made conflict inevitable in the organization. The abundance of disagreements and conflicts in organizations has caused a significant amount of managers' time to be spent on preventing, reducing, and solving these problems (Ezdi, 1379). "Bryan and Cronin[13]" consider the possible sources of conflict to include interpersonal differences, conflict between different areas and groups in the organization, conflict between managers and management, conflict between individual and job, conflict between individuals, and conflict between formal and informal organizations (Mullins, 2002). "Baron[14]" in a research article, while citing several researches, points out that personality traits cause certain tendencies to resolve interpersonal conflicts. Some people have a desire to deal with a conflict by avoiding and staying away from the conflict, some with compromise, some with competition, and some with other forms of conflict resolution. Therefore, the dominant and active motivations of people are among the main factors of their adherence to a specific style for conflict resolution (Ezdi, 1379).

The existential philosophy of management in physical education and sports expresses the fact that the category of physical education and sports as a broad and yet complex organization requires skilled and efficient managers at different levels. Organization of physical training, physical training of education and training, Ministry of Science, administrations and sports federations. All are organizations that must be managed by managers. These organizations cannot be left alone or left to the hands of events. If people without the necessary qualifications and abilities become responsible for managing such organizations, they will impose many problems on these organizations and sports organizations.