“Something doesn’t feel right.”

The core question they ask is simple but confronting: “What does workplace conflict do to people in the long term?”

Their findings are consistent and strongly supported. Interpersonal conflict at work is strongly associated with:

• increased work stress

• emotional exhaustion

• psychosomatic complaints (headaches, sleep problems, fatigue)

• lower job satisfaction

• and ultimately: absenteeism and burnout

In other words: conflict does not stay neatly at the office. It goes home with people. It gets under their skin.

What prolonged conflict does to people

What makes this research so relevant is that it shows conflict creates stress, even when people continue to function professionally. You can meet deadlines, attend meetings and still slowly become depleted. Conflict requires continuous mental energy: staying alert, protecting yourself, choosing your words carefully, replaying situations in your mind.

Spector & Jex emphasize that chronic, unresolved conflict is particularly harmful. Not one difficult discussion, but the recurring pattern. The colleague you avoid. The manager around whom you constantly walk on eggshells. The tension that never truly disappears.

Why unresolved conflict slowly drains energy

In organizations, I see this every day. People who say: “I’m fine.”

But in the meantime, they sleep worse, become less focused and get irritated more quickly. At some point, the bill arrives. Sometimes in the form of sick leave. Sometimes through resignation. Sometimes through quiet disengagement.

What this research also makes painfully clear is that conflict is often underestimated because it is not immediately visible. No shouting matches, no formal complaints, no legal action. But the costs accumulate through other channels: occupational health, absenteeism, burnout, turnover and reduced employability.

Conflict as a health risk requires different leadership

The implicit message of Spector & Jex is clear: conflict is not only a relational issue, it is a health risk.

And that requires different leadership. Not waiting until things escalate. Not hoping it will resolve itself. But actively identifying, discussing and guiding conflict. Early. Professionally. With attention to people, not only structures.

Felix Merks
Director Result ADR

Would you like to read the research yourself?

Source: Spector, P. E., & Jex, S. M. (1998). Development of four self-report measures of job stressors and strain: Interpersonal Conflict at Work Scale, Organizational Constraints Scale, Quantitative Workload Inventory, and Physical Symptoms Inventory. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 3(4), 356–367. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.3.4.356