Factors that Influence the Workers' Conflict Readiness

Data from a survey carried out in 1975 among about 200 workers of a metallurgical enterprise inquiring into the factors determining the relative intensity of the workers' conflict readiness are presented & analyzed. Four sets of factors were hypothesized to be involved: (1) private resources & burdens, (2) perceptual & attitudinal/behavioral orientation of a person, (3) situation-dependent expectations concerning a person's economic situation, & (4) experiences within the entrepreneurial context in which a person worked. Multivariable correlations between the four sets were determined & the following implications emerged: (A) there is no direct correlation between conflict readiness & general contentment in the enterprise, (B) there is no direct correlation between conflict readiness & perceptions of entrepreneurial management combined with being affected by part-time work, & (C) there is no direct correlation between general contentment in the enterprise & being affected by part-time work. From these statements, it can be deduced that individual economic security, as endangered by part-time work, reduces workers' conflict readiness; & lack of contentment with one's own management increases contentment with work & increases conflict readiness. Various causal models are considered on the basis of these findings. It is concluded that the development of conflict readiness depends upon the perceived discrepancies between the workers' actual situation & what is considered economically possible. S. Whittle.