Purpose -This study aims to provide a more detailed examination of the way conflict styles vary by organization level and gender. Design/methodology/approach -The authors drew a stratified, random sample from a national database on the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, selecting 200 fully-employed men and 200 fully-employed women at each of six organizational levels -from entry-level positions to top executives. This design allowed them to test for linear and curvilinear relationships

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... ween style and organization leveL as well as to compare gender differences in styles across organization levels. Findings -Results showed moderate effect sizes for both organization level and gender, with negligible interaction effects. Assertiveness (competing and collaborating) increases monotonically at progressively higher organization levels, while unassertive styles (avoiding and accommodating) decrease. Compromising shows a curvilinear relationship to organization leveL decreasing at both the highest and lowest levels. The strongest gender finding was that men score significantly higher on competing at all six organization levels. Thus, there was no evidence that conflict styles of men and women converge at higher organization levels. Originality/value -The study provides a more detailed picture of conflict style differences by organization level and gender. Among other things, these differences suggest the usefulness of multiple sets of norms for conflict style instruments and the need for conflict training and team building to take into account the typical style patterns at a given organization level. Overview This study was designed to advance our knowledge of the way conflict styles vary by organization level and gender. Previous studies have tended to investigate these variables separately, so that little is known about their comparative effect sizes or possible interaction. Studies have generally shown that each variable impacts conflict styles (as detailed below), although findings have varied as to which styles are influenced and by how much. A major reason for the discrepant findings, as Holt and DeVore (2005) note, has been the use of small convenience samples. This study used a relatively large, stratified random sample from a national database. The design allowed a more definitive assessment of the individual and interactive effects of both ·gender and organization level on conflict style. We also used a more fine-grained Portions of this paper were presented at the 2006 Academy of Management meetings, Atlanta, GA The authors are indebted toJenny Merriam and David Donnay for their work on an earlier analysis of these data, and to Dennis Hocevar for his statistical expertise on the current paper.