Do virtual groups experience less conflict than traditional teams?

Research on virtual teams has increased in the last decade, however, is not yet clear whether the dynamics of virtual teams differ from those of face to face groups. Also in virtual groups conflict is considered a critical factor for team functioning. The purpose of this paper is to explore sources of conflict in virtual teams (size, task, CMC communication modalities, degree of collaborative learning) and verify whether asynchronous online educational groups go through the same sequential development model stages proposed for face-to-face groups. Eighty-four psychology majors were randomly assigned to four seminar groups where student worked both in small subgroups and larger groups. We used two content analysis methods: paper-and-pencil and T-LAB software. Results show that asynchronous collaborative learning groups follow a sequential model of group development, but do not present the conflict stage. T-LAB content analysis seems to be less efficient in understanding conflict processes.