Psychological Predictors of Conflict Management Behaviour of Labour Leaders in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the joint and relative effects of emotional intelligence and communication skill on conflict management behaviour of labour leaders in Lagos State, Nigeria. A descriptive survey research design was adopted using questionnaire as the main instrument. 180 respondents (labour leaders) were purposively selected from ten (10) randomly selected industrial unions in Lagos State. Data collected were analysed using multiple regressions at 0.05 alpha levels. The findings indicated significant composite effect of communication skill and emotional intelligence on conflict management behaviour of labour leaders (R= .458; Adjusted R2 = .201 (20.1%); F (2,177) = 23.446, P < 0.05). In addition, the result revealed that communication skill has a stronger significant effect on conflict management behaviour of the respondents (B = .212, t = 4.747, p <.05). Based on the findings, it was recommended among other things, that government should organize intervention training programme on the two skills for labour leaders and that labour leaders be encouraged to update themselves educationally in order to enhance their communication skills.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, communication skills, conflict management behaviour, labour leaders.