| The purpose of this dissertation study is to investigate the 2 x 2 socio-cognitive conflict regulation framework, with a particular focus on a new construct of concurrence-seeking epistemic regulation , characterized by students' compliance with others' views without experiencing any contradiction. I also examined how perceived competence and social interdependence (i.e., cooperative and competitive contexts) are associated with a range of student outcomes including socio-cognitive conflict regulation (a) in experimental studies using vignettes describing working with the other employee in a workplace (Pilot Study, Study 1) and (b) in a field study by asking undergraduates about group-work experiences in their real classroom (Study 2). Pilot Study (N = 201) and Study 1 (N = 504) provided empirical support for the existence of concurrence-seeking epistemic regulation as a new type of socio-cognitive conflict regulation, along with the validation of the 2 x 2 socio-cognitive conflict model, by evidence of factor structure, reliability of each measure, intercorrelations between the measures, and the effects of competence and social interdependence on each type of regulation. There were significant interactive effects of competence and social interdependence on constructive-epistemic and competitive-relational regulations in both Pilot Study and Study 1. Study 2 (N = 254) confirmed utility of the new measures of socio-cognitive conflict regulation in an actual undergraduate classroom by replicating their factor structure, reliabilities, and convergent and divergent validities from Pilot Study and Study 1. Furthermore, I examined structural relations among different types of students' socio-cognitive conflict regulations and their antecedents (i.e., competence, social interdependence, achievement goals) and consequences (i.e., behavioral engagement/disengagement, critical reasoning), and tested interactive effects of perceived competence and social interdependence using latent moderated structural equations approach. There were significant interactive effects of competence and cooperative perceptions on concurrence-seeking epistemic and protective-relational regulations, and a significant interactive effect of competence and competitive perceptions on protective-relational regulation. The interaction results indicate that as competence is higher, higher cooperative perceptions lead to even lower concurrence-seeking epistemic and protective-relational regulations. And, as perceived competence is higher, higher competitive perceptions lead to even lower protective-relational regulation. In addition, constructive-epistemic regulation showed the most adaptive learning outcomes in terms of behavioral engagement and critical reasoning. This dissertation study's findings refine conceptual model of socio-cognitive conflict regulation and shed light on both social interdependence theory and socio-cognitive conflict theory. They also provide more specific guidance for peer learning instructions to promote students' cognitive development. |
