Peacemaking at the Workplace: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Research on third party interventions in conflict has mostly focused on formal interventions by professional mediators or supervisors. Studies on informal and voluntary third party interventions by peers or someone else in a nonhierarchical position are very limited. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate empirical studies on peacemaking to (a) define the concept; (b) search for scales that measure peacemaking; (c) and identify outcomes of peacemaking. In total, our search led to 713 unique hits of which 12 were retained based on the predefined selection criteria. Based on the findings from the reviewed articles, we propose a definition of peacemaking and identify four components of peacemaking: relational, procedural, emotional, and content help. This study contributes to the current conflict management literature by focusing on informal and voluntary helping behavior in the context of conflicts (instead of formal interventions), while linking the literature on organizational citizenship behavior and research on third party interventions in the context of conflict. In practice, peacemakers play a crucial role in solving conflicts constructively and contribute as such to both individual and team functioning.