Compromising, Avoiding, or Bullying? A Mixed Method Approach to Understanding Conflict Resolution and Bullying Among Undergraduate Roommates

While living with roommates in residence presents a unique set of challenges for emerging adults who are just beginning to navigate a world of adult responsibilities and are adjusting to living with an often-unfamiliar companion, conflicts become inevitable. Common sources of conflict, such as disputes over cleaning duties or noise levels, combine with still-developing conflict resolution skills to create an escalating environment of hostility that can develop into bullying if not properly addressed. However, what remains relatively understudied is how emerging adults navigate conflict management and how conflict resolution styles mitigate such household conflicts. Employing a multi-methods approach, this study utilized quantitative (i.e., questionnaires) and qualitative (i.e., short answer questions) methods to investigate the relative influence of conflict management styles and social support on roommate victimization and bullying among 804 undergraduate students aged 18–21 years old (79% female; M = 19). Multiple hierarchal linear regressions and thematic analyses were employed to analyze the data. The findings revealed that roommate compromise predicted an increase in roommate victimization and bullying, and an inverse relationship between resolving conflict with self-interest, where increased self-interest predicted lower roommate victimization and bullying. Social support was significantly inversely related to roommate bullying and victimization, such that increased social support tended to mitigate bullying and victimization. Taken in unison, these findings convey while students may believe they are compromising, whether they are requires further investigation. This work highlights the need to teach students how to manage conflict in healthy ways while verifying the continued importance of social support.