Master_Thesis_Jakob_deBeer&Beatrice_Inzaina

This study aimed to investigate how remote versus on-site meetings influence psychological distance, dispositional attributions, and emotional responses in the early stages of workplace conflict. Drawing on Wilson et al. (2013), who found that remote workers may experience increased psychological distance and heightened internal attributions, we hypothesized similar outcomes in our setting. Furthermore, external attributions seem to be made more often when personal information is more abundant (Jones & Nisbett, 1971) such as in on-site meetings. Additional literature suggests that emotional responses may also be more negative in remote contexts due to reduced informal interactions and diminished trust (Liu et al., 2008). To test these hypotheses, participants (N = 158) were randomly assigned to either an online or on-site condition and presented with three conflict-based scenarios. Welch’s t-tests revealed significant differences between the conditions in psychological distance and internal attributions, both higher in the remote condition. However, emotional responses did not significantly differ across conditions. An exploratory Pearson’s correlation was also conducted to examine the relationship between attribution types and emotional responses. This analysis revealed a significant correlation between internal and external attributions, but not with emotional responses. Overall, two of our three confirmatory findings support existing literature and provide further insight into how remote settings may influence early-stage conflict perceptions. Key limitations include limited statistical power, complex item wording particularly in the psychological distance scale and high attrition, likely due to scenario length. Future research should examine these variables in a more integrated manner using refined and ecologically valid methods