Conflict Style Quiz
See how often you use competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating in everyday disagreements. This original adult quiz offers a five-style profile, practical ways to vary your approach, and optional PDF options.
Conflict Style Quiz is a free, confidential 25-question self-assessment, original items · dual-concern model. It takes about 5 minutes, runs entirely in your browser, and gives you a plain-language profile of your strongest style plus an optional in-depth report. It is an educational screening, not a diagnosis.
Five possible responses, not one right personality
Conflict style concerns how you respond when preferences differ. Your usual approach may help in one situation and cost you in another, so this profile keeps all five styles visible.
Equal attention to every style
Five original items measure each of the five styles in the Thomas-Kilmann dual-concern model. Equal item counts let you compare your own tendencies without giving a style more weight simply because it has more questions. These are not the proprietary TKI items.
Your concern and the other person’s
The model considers how strongly you pursue your own concerns and how much you engage with the other person’s concerns. It provides a vocabulary for discussing choices, not a measure of moral character, kindness, or skill. High use of a style does not mean effective use.
Flexibility for a specific disagreement
Each leading-style interpretation explains a potential benefit, a possible cost, and a concrete adjustment. The goal is to widen your choices. Safety, consent, urgency, and power differences can make one approach more appropriate than a generally preferred style.
| Feature | Typical free quiz | Psychology.com |
|---|---|---|
| Instrument | May imply it is the official TKI | Independent original questionnaire; TKI distinction explicit |
| Balance | Item counts may be unclear | Exactly five items per style |
| Scores | May imply population rankings | Percent of possible points, not percentiles |
| Ties | May give a definitive type regardless | Tie order and all-zero limits explained |
| Interpretation | May rank styles as good or bad | Benefits, costs, and situational alternatives |
| Use | May present a permanent identity | One-setting reflection for practical skill development |
The 5 results this test can give
- Competing: This style was highest or tied: pursuing your own position directly.
- Collaborating: This style was highest or tied: seeking an approach that addresses both people’s concerns.
- Compromising: This style was highest or tied: looking for an acceptable middle ground.
- Avoiding: This style was highest or tied: stepping back from disagreement or delaying engagement.
- Accommodating: This style was highest or tied: giving priority to the other person’s preference.
Methodology & sources
This independent educational questionnaire is informed by the Thomas-Kilmann dual-concern model: competing emphasizes one’s own concerns, accommodating the other person’s, avoiding addresses neither immediately, collaborating seeks to address both, and compromising seeks partial satisfaction for each. The official Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) is proprietary. Our 25 items are original statements, not copied or reworded TKI forced-choice pairs. Five items map to each style. No TKI report language, norms, scoring keys, or percentile conversions are reproduced. The published model informs the categories; validation of the commercial instrument does not transfer to this page.
Rate frequency over the past three months within one chosen setting. Each item scores 0 to 4, giving five independent totals from 0 to 20. Displayed percentages are the proportion of possible points within each style, not percentiles, success rates, or portions that sum to 100. The highest percentage supplies the headline. Exact ties display the first tied style in this fixed order: competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, accommodating. That order has no psychological meaning. If every answer is never, the displayed headline is a technical tie, not a leading style. Similar bars suggest a mixed pattern, and no clinical bands apply.
References
- The Myers-Briggs Company. TKI Assessment: Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument. Official product and model information; accessed September 13, 2026. themyersbriggs.com/en-US/Explore-Solutions/TKI
- The Myers-Briggs Company. The Five Conflict-Handling Modes. TKI interpretive material preview. Accessed September 13, 2026. themyersbriggs.com/-/media/Files/PDFs/Book-Previews/TK0003e_preview.pdf
- Centre for Clinical Interventions, Government of Western Australia. Assert Yourself! Assertiveness self-help resources. Accessed September 13, 2026. cci.health.wa.gov.au/en/Resources/Looking-After-Yourself/Assertiveness
Cite this source
Psychology.com. (2026, September 13). Conflict Style Quiz. Psychology.com. https://psychology.com/tests/conflict-style
Conflict Style Quiz FAQ
Is this the official Thomas-Kilmann assessment?
No. The TKI is a proprietary commercial instrument with its own administration, items, and reports. This is an independent educational reflection using original frequency statements organized around the five-style model. You cannot convert these percentages into TKI percentiles or compare your result with official TKI norms. If you need the licensed instrument for a formal program, use an authorized source.
Which conflict style is best?
There is no single best style for every disagreement. Urgency may call for a clear decision; a low-priority preference may be easy to yield; a complex shared problem may benefit from collaboration. Compromise can be practical when time is limited. Avoiding may provide a useful pause or protect safety. The question is whether the approach fits the situation and preserves essential rights, not whether its name sounds positive.
What if my two highest styles are tied?
Treat both as equally endorsed on this questionnaire. The headline shows one because the engine needs a single display result, using the fixed order explained in methodology. That selection does not establish a stronger preference. If all five scores are zero, no leading style has been measured. Read the complete profile and choose an example from a real disagreement to understand how you respond.
Can I have different styles at work and at home?
Yes. Power, trust, history, urgency, and the importance of a disagreement can all affect which approach you use. Choose one setting for a clearer reflection instead of averaging all relationships together. The <a href="/tests/communication-style">communication style quiz</a> considers how you express yourself more broadly. Neither tool establishes what another person thinks of you or why a particular interaction became difficult.
Should I share this result with a partner?
Only if you want to and can do so safely. It may help start a conversation about a recent disagreement, but it should not become an explanation that excuses harm or a rule about how someone must respond. Avoid statements such as you always avoid things because that is your type. If intimidation or retaliation is present, seek individual support instead of using a shared quiz exercise.
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