EFFECTS OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION SKILLS TRAINING ON UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ HANDLING STYLES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study was carried out in order to determine the effects of conflict resolution skills training on university undergraduate students’ conflict handling styles. Two research questions guided the study and four null hypotheses were tested. The design adopted in this study is the quasi-experimental research design. The population of the study was 430second year students enrolled in two programmes of the Faculty of Education, University of Abuja, Nigeria. The total sampling procedure was used, thus, all the 200 level students in the two programmes participated in the study. The instrument adapted and used to collect data in this study is the Thomas-Kilman Conflict Mode Instrument (TKCMI), (1976) for assessing the conflict handling styles of students. The instrument was face and content validated. The reliability of the instrument was determined using the split-half method. The analysis yielded a reliability index of 0.72. The experimental procedure was executed in three stages, namely, Pre-test, Treatment and Post-test. The study used mean, standard deviations and t-test for data analysis. The results showed that students’ conflict handling style before the training was less inspiring. Conflict resolution training was found to be effective in changing the conflict behaviour of students. The effectiveness of conflict resolution training was established in favour of a training conducted using Conflict Resolution Trainers’ Manual by Hollier, Cornelius & Murray (2008) and less improvements when trained using the GST222 curriculum. Based on the findings, it was recommended that university authority evolved a training programme that can provide students with needed knowhow on conflict management. The study also recommended a review of the GST222 curriculum to meet contemporary needs and that conflict resolution skills training should be encouraged to enhance students’ conflict handling styles.