A conflict style inventory is a written tool for gaining insight into how people respond to

conflict. Typically, a user answers a set of questions about their responses to conflict and is
scored accordingly.

Most people develop a patterned response to conflict based on their life history and history with
others. This response may fit some situations well, but may be ineffective or destructive in other
circumstances. The goal is to increase people's awareness of their own patterns and bring more
options and flexibility within reach.

The most widely used conflict style inventories are based on the Mouton Blake Axis which
posits five styles of conflict response (see Managerial Grid Model). These include the Jay Hall
Conflict Management Survey, the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, a standard since
the 1960s, and the Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory, a more recent publication that is culturally
sensitive.

More extensive personality type instruments are also useful to help understand conflict style
differences. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which is based on the work of Carl Jung, and the
Gilmore Fraleigh instruments fall in this category.

Conflict resolution teachers and trainers, mediators, organizational consultants, and human
resource managers use conflict style inventories in their work to help people reflect on and
improve their responses to conflict. Awareness of styles helps people recognize that they have
choices in how to respond to conflict. Since each style has a preferred way of interacting with
others in conflict, style awareness also can greatly assist people in meeting the needs of those
they live and work with.

[edit] See also