The propensity toward reconciliation among young people in Northern Ireland and Croatia: The role of conflict management styles within the family

Two studies, conducted in Northern Ireland (N = 266) and Croatia (N = 261), examined the role of constructive adolescents-parents conflict management style (CAPCMS) in predicting inter-group reconciliation attitudes. We hypothesized that CAPCMS would be a unique and positive predictor of reconciliation attitudes over and above other common predictors of reconciliation attitudes, such as inter-group contact quantity and quality, and the experience of inter-group conflict. Findings from Study 1 supported this hypothesis. Study 2 replicated these findings in a different cultural context and extended them by examining the robustness of the relationship between CAPCMS and reconciliation attitudes in the presence of an individual difference measure (self-confidence in social interactions). Furthermore, both studies revealed that for adolescents with high CAPCMS the relationships between intergroup contact (quantity and quality) and reconciliation attitudes were more accentuated, and their reconciliation attitudes were less affected by their experience of conflict, relative to those with low CAPCMS.