The Effect of Task-Conflict on Job Attitudes : The Mediating Effects of Communication

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of task conflict on job attitudes (organizational commitment & job satisfaction), focusing on the mediating effects of supervisory communication & co-worker communication. Recently, the importance of communication as a research topic has been increasing. According to prior research, communication satisfaction has a positive effect on job performance. However, studies which take into account the different types of communication are lacking. Therefore, this study considered two types of communication (supervisory communication and coworker communication). A research model and hypotheses were developed in order to examine the theoretical research issues and questions. The sample consisted of 280 survey data drawn from employees in firms located in Korea. The data was analyzed by the statistical packages, SPSS 21.0 & AMOS 21.0 for Windows. The findings of the analysis are as follows. Firstly, it was found that task conflict had a negative (-) effect on organizational commitment & job satisfaction. Therefore, H1a & H1b are supported. Secondly, it was found that task conflict had a negative (-) effect on supervisory communication. Therefore, H2a is supported. However, it did not have a significant effect on co-worker communication. Hence, H2b is not supported. Thirdly, as regards the mediating effect of supervisory communication, it was found that supervisory communication mediated the effect of task conflict on job attitudes (organizational commitment & job satisfaction). Therefore, H3a & H3b are supported. Finally, the mediating effect of co-worker communication was not significant. Therefore, none of the sub-hypotheses of H4 are supported. Based on these findings, this study suggested directions for future research.