This study was designed to show if there are differences in levels of conflict between childcare providers working at childcare centers in Seoul according to general characteristics, and if the levels of conflict affect conflict resolution and job sat...
This study was designed to show if there are differences in levels of conflict between childcare providers working at childcare centers in Seoul according to general characteristics, and if the levels of conflict affect conflict resolution and job satisfaction. It also examines the relationship of conflict resolution between childcare providers and job satisfaction. Based on this purpose, the following research questions were derived.
[Research Question 1] Are there differences in levels of conflict between childcare providers according to general characteristics?
[Research Question 2] Are there differences in conflict resolution according to levels of conflict between childcare providers?
[Research Question 3] Are there differences in job satisfaction according to levels of conflict between childcare providers?
[Research Question 4] What is the correlation between conflict resolution and job satisfaction?
To examine the research questions, 314 childcare providers from childcare centers with 5 or more childcare providers were surveyed as subjects of this study. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS Win 12.0 programusing frequency, percentile, one way ANOVA, Schéffe test, and Pearson correlation analysis.
The major findings are summarized as follows:
First, in terms of differences in levels of conflict between childcare providers according to general characteristics, childcare providers in the ‘35-39’ age group as well as those working at private childcare centers displayed significantly high levels of conflict. On the other hand, childcare providers with ‘less than three years’ work experience displayed significantly low levels of conflict.
Second, in terms of differences in conflict resolution according to levels of conflict between childcare providers, groups with high levels of conflict frequently used avoidance and dominance strategies for conflict resolution. In contrast, groups with low levels of conflict used coercion strategy more frequently. Therefore, there were significant differences in strategies used to resolve conflict according to levels of conflict.
Third, in terms of differences in job satisfaction according to levels of conflict between childcare providers, only satisfaction associated with relationship to colleagues displayed a significant difference according to levels of conflict. The results indicate that groups with low levels of conflict perceived higher job satisfaction in their relationship with colleagues compared to groups with higher levels of conflict.
Fourth, the more frequently childcare providers used integration strategy to resolve conflict, the higher the levels of overall job satisfaction as well as relationship with childcare center directors, relationship with colleagues and organizational commitment. Moreover, the more frequently they used compromise strategy, the higher the levels of overall job satisfaction, relationship with colleagues and organizational commitment. The more frequently they used coercion and dominance strategy, the higher the level of job satisfaction in the category of organizational commitment. The more frequently they used avoidance strategy, the lower the level of job satisfaction in the category of organizational commitment. In terms of conflict resolution according to levels of conflict, groups with high levels of conflict used dominance or avoidance strategies more frequently compared to those with low levelsof conflict. Job-satisfaction showed positive correlation with dominance strategy but negative correlation with avoidance strategy.
The results of this study imply that there is a need to support childcare providers who face high levels of conflict among themselves in resolving conflict through strategies with positive influence on job satisfaction.