From November to December 2024, an online survey of college students from a university in Anhui Province, China, was carried out using the convenient cluster sampling method and relying on the “Wenjuanxing” platform.¹ A total of 1,408 research subjects were finally included.

Among them, there are 365 boys and 1,043 girls; 816 freshmen, 482 sophomores, and 110 juniors; 657 majors in literature and history, 679 majors in science and engineering, and 72 majors in arts and sports; 903 with home residence in the village or town, 251 with home residence in the county, and 254 with home residence in the city; 255 lived in single-child households and 1,153 lived in non-single-child households; 1,014 people who had residential experience and 394 people did not have residential experience before going to university; 559 people had left-behind experience and 849 had no left-behind experience (“Left-behind experience” refers to the experience that, before the age of 18, at least one parent has been working outside the home for more than half a year and has not been around to take care of them); the average age was (18.94 ± 1.01) years old. All study subjects signed the informed consent form. This study complies with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Mplus 8.3 software was used to analyze the potential profile of interpersonal conflict coping styles in college dormitories, and the determination of the best model was comprehensively judged by the following indicators: the lower the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), and sample size-adjusted aBIC values, the better the model fit; a p-values < 0.05 for LMR and BLMR indicates that the current model is significantly better than the model of the previous classification. An Entropy value above 0.80 indicates a high level of classification accuracy, with values closer to 1 indicating greater feasibility (Wang and Bi, 2018). SPSS 25.0 software was used for data analysis. The count data were expressed as frequency and percentage, the χ² test was used for comparison between groups, and the influence of each factor on the potential types of conflict coping styles in different dormitories was evaluated by multivariate binary logistic regression analysis, with p < 0.05 considered statistically significant.

Based on the 1-classification model, the number of profiles was gradually increased to explore the best potential number of categories that could fully explain the relationship between conflict coping style indicators in college dormitories. The results showed that the values of AIC, BIC, and aBIC gradually decreased with the increase in the number of categories, and the lowest values were never found; and the LMR and BLMR indexes were statistically significant in all models (all p values < 0.01). Although the Entropy values for categories 3 and 5 are more than 0.90, there are cases where the category probability values are low. In summary, considering the accuracy and conciseness of model selection, two categories were finally selected as the optimal model (see Table 1).

As can be seen from Table 2, there were statistically significant differences in the four dimensions of dormitory conflict coping style and dormitory interpersonal relationship scores between the two potential categories of dormitory conflict coping style (all p values < 0.01). The two categories were named according to the scores of the four dimensions of the Dormitory Interpersonal Conflict Coping Style Questionnaire. The scores of the students in category I were significantly lower than those in category II, while the scores of cooperation were significantly higher than those in category II. Therefore, 1,197 students (85.01%) were classified in category I, and 211 (14.99%) were classified in category II as the positive coping group and negative coping group, respectively (see Figure 1).

Demographic variables were used as rows, and two potential categories of dormitory conflict coping styles were used as columns. A contingency table analysis was carried out. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences in the distribution of potential categories of dormitory conflict coping styles among college students of different genders, grades, and majors (all p < 0.01) (see Table 3).

Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was performed with two potential categories of dormitory conflict coping style (“positive coping group” as the reference) as the dependent variables, and gender (male students as the reference), grade (freshmen as the reference), and major type (literature and history as the reference) as independent variables. Specifically, male students were 1.86 times more likely to choose a negative coping style than female students; sophomores were 1.44 times more likely to choose a negative coping style; junior students were 1.70 times more likely to choose a negative coping style; science and engineering students were 1.57 times more likely to choose a negative coping style than students majoring in literature and history; and art and sports students were 2.34 times more likely to choose a negative coping style. In other words, female students, first-year students, and students majoring in literature and history are more likely to choose a positive way to deal with interpersonal conflicts in the dormitory (see Table 4).

The independent sample t-test was used to compare the differences in the emotional scores of college students in different types of dormitory conflict coping style groups. The results showed that the scores of depression, stress, and anxiety were significantly lower in the positive coping group than in the negative coping group (all p < 0.01) (see Table 2).

The results showed that, firstly, college students’ dormitory conflict coping styles could be divided into two potential categories: the positive coping group (85.01%) and the negative coping group (14.99%). It can be seen that there is heterogeneity in college students’ coping with dormitory conflicts, and most students can choose positive coping methods when facing interpersonal conflicts in dormitories, but a small number of groups may lack active and effective interpersonal coping strategies. This is because college students are in a critical period of “self-identity” development; their personalities are gradually improving, and their conflict coping styles are gradually becoming rational and mature, and they can actively choose positive and reasonable coping strategies when facing interpersonal conflicts in the dormitory (Jia, 2009; Deng et al., 2015; Yang, 2020). Secondly, the dormitory interpersonal relationship scores of college students in the positive coping group were higher than those in the negative coping group. This suggests that positive coping styles do help improve the quality of interpersonal relationships in dormitories, while negative coping styles may disrupt interpersonal relationships in dormitories, which is consistent with existing studies (Zhao et al., 2019; Yang, 2020). This reaffirms that the impact and consequences of interpersonal conflict depend on how interpersonal conflict is coped with rather than on interpersonal conflict itself (Rahim, 1983). Finally, the scores of college students in the positive coping group of dormitory conflict in the three dimensions of competition, compliance, and avoidance were lower than those of the negative coping group, while the scores of the cooperation dimension were higher than those of the negative coping group. The coping strategies of the two groups were ranked in the same order, which were cooperation, compliance, avoidance, and competition, which was consistent with the previous research. Numerous studies have shown that the frequency of conflict coping in college dormitories is cooperation, compliance, avoidance, and competition (Jia, 2009; Deng et al., 2015; Yang, 2020). This is in line with the traditional Chinese culture of valuing “harmony,” which reflects the Chinese people’s pursuit of interpersonal harmony (Zhao et al., 2019; Dong et al., 2012; Yang, 2020; Wang, 2022). Cooperation has the nature of prosocial behavior and is a win-win strategy that helps to promote interpersonal harmony (Xiao et al., 2014) and improve interpersonal adaptation (Cen and Nie, 2009), while competitive coping increases interpersonal distress (Zhao and Su, 2015; Fan and Zhang, 2003; Wang, 2017; Sillars, 1980). When cooperative strategies cannot be used to effectively deal with interpersonal conflicts, individuals tend to choose relatively mild adversarial, submissive, and avoidance strategies rather than fiercely adversarial competitive strategies to maintain interpersonal harmony to the greatest extent (Wang, 2022).

The results showed that gender, grade, and major type were significantly correlated with interpersonal conflict coping styles in college dormitories. Specifically, first, female students are more likely to choose to respond positively to interpersonal conflicts in dormitories, consistent with the results of previous studies (Zhao et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2012; Wang, 2022). Evolutionary psychology research has shown that males are more aggressive than females and are more likely to use negative coping strategies such as competition in the face of interpersonal conflict (Zhao et al., 2019; Fan and Zhang, 2003; Bazezew and Neka, 2017). On the other hand, in the process of individual socialization, adults encourage girls to be gentle and humble, while boys are encouraged to be resolute and brave to compete. This differentiated education is also reflected in the way of coping with interpersonal conflicts, with women more inclined to cooperate and tolerate to seek reconciliation, while men will use competitive aggression more to vent their dissatisfaction with conflict (Deng et al., 2015; Li and Tang, 2010; Wang and Zhao, 2023). Second, first-year students are more likely to choose to respond positively than sophomores and juniors, which is consistent with the results of existing studies (Yang, 2020). The study shows that the cooperation score of freshmen is higher than that of senior students, which may be due to the fact that freshmen have lower interpersonal familiarity. In order to adapt to the unfamiliar environment as soon as possible and improve their sense of belonging, they pay more attention to creating a harmonious dormitory relationship and are more willing to choose a positive way to cope with interpersonal conflicts in the dormitory. As interpersonal familiarity increases, interpersonal relationships in the dormitory become basically stereotyped, and other interpersonal circles outside the dormitory gradually expand. The sources of students’ sense of belonging become diversified, so the willingness of senior students to try to find a win-win solution when facing dormitory conflicts is significantly reduced (Yang, 2020; Wang, 2022). Finally, students majoring in literature and history are more likely to choose to respond positively than students majoring in science and engineering and the arts and sports, which is consistent with the results of previous studies (Yang, 2020; Wang, 2022). Studies have shown that students from the sciences have heavier academic tasks, pay more attention to personal future issues and life values, and their interpersonal autonomy, caring for others, and self-image goals are significantly lower than those of literature and history majors (Yang, 2020). Correspondingly, there are differences in the way they deal with interpersonal conflicts. Arts and sports students may be more sensitive, pay more attention to personal feelings in interpersonal communication and conflict, and have a relatively low willingness to seek a win-win situation.

The results showed that there were significant differences in the emotional scores of college students in the interpersonal conflict coping group across different types of dormitories, and the negative emotions in the positive coping group were significantly lower than those in the negative coping group, which was consistent with the results of previous studies (Zhao et al., 2019). Research shows that there is a two-way relationship between conflict management style and individual emotions. First, individuals with positive emotions are more likely to choose cooperative conflict management. However, individuals with negative emotions are more likely to choose competitive conflict management (Pan, 2009). This can be explained by the theory of emotional contagion. The emotional states of individuals influence each other. The emotions of one party can affect those of the other, triggering similar emotional responses (Hazy and Boyatzis, 2015). In social interaction, individuals’ emotions can influence each other, thereby leading to behavioral synchronization (Herrando and Constantinides, 2021). Therefore, an individual’s emotional state not only affects their own conflict management approach but may also drive the other party to choose a similar conflict management approach. Second, individuals who adopt positive coping styles (e.g., cooperation) tend to have better interpersonal relationships and fewer negative emotions, while individuals who adopt negative coping styles (e.g., competition and avoidance) tend to experience interpersonal distress and more negative emotions (Wang and Zhao, 2023; Liao et al., 2012; Lei et al., 2018). According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory (Baumeister and Leary, 1995), when faced with interpersonal conflicts in the dormitory, which is a common stressful situation, adopting a cooperative coping style can help to increase interpersonal trust, alleviate interpersonal conflicts and stress (Wang, 2017), and satisfy the needs of individual belonging and respect. However, competition and avoidance are not conducive to the resolution of interpersonal conflicts in the dormitory and may even intensify the conflicts, increase interpersonal pressure, and make it difficult to effectively meet the needs of individuals for belonging and respect; and it is easy to experience negative emotions (Wang, 2017; Wang and Zhao, 2023; Liao et al., 2012; Yang et al., 2024). Individuals who adopt a submissive approach tend to accumulate negative emotions by ignoring their own needs in order to satisfy the needs of the other person (Antonioni, 1998).

The conclusion of this study has important implications for the reasonable resolution of interpersonal conflicts in college student dormitories. In the daily management of students and mental health education, it is advisable to promote more about the significant importance of positive interpersonal conflict response methods for resolving conflicts (which are positively correlated with interpersonal harmony and negatively correlated with negative emotions). At the same time, encourage students to reflect on their usual ways of managing interpersonal conflicts, guide them to see and balance the needs and interests of both sides of the conflict, and actively learn and apply positive coping styles (such as cooperation), while using negative coping styles (such as competition and avoidance) less, in order to seek the greatest possible win-win situation.

The present study used latent profile analysis to explore the potential categories of college students’ dormitory interpersonal conflict coping styles and the effects of some demographic factors on them, and also to compare the differences in emotional characteristics of different dormitory interpersonal conflict coping groups. This study also has the following limitations: (1) The self-reporting method was used to collect data, which may be affected by the social approval effect. Future research can adopt multi-channel sources to collect data. Furthermore, the study adopted a cross-sectional design, making it difficult to reveal the causal relationships among the variables. Future research can conduct causal inferences by integrating longitudinal research designs and other methods, such as the influence mechanisms between conflict management styles and emotions, and personality traits. (2) The research and investigation scope is limited to a certain university in the northern part of Anhui Province, China. This university is an ordinary, normal undergraduate institution with a relatively high number of female students. Therefore, when the cluster sampling method based on classes is adopted, it naturally leads to a higher number of female students in the research sample. Given the significant gender differences in interpersonal conflict management methods, the classification results of the potential profile analysis in this study and the proportion of people involved may have certain biases. For instance, the proportion of people adopting positive coping styles is higher. Future research should expand the scope of the investigation to include universities of different types and scales. At the same time, pay attention to the balance of the number of men and women. (3) The research results are only applicable to college students in the context of Chinese culture. Chinese society values a collectivist culture and emphasizes the importance of interpersonal harmony, which may have an impact on the interpersonal conflict management methods of Chinese college students. Therefore, the applicability of the research results in other cultural contexts needs to be carefully considered. Future research can conduct cross-cultural studies to compare the potential heterogeneity that may exist in people’s conflict management styles under different cultural backgrounds, such as collectivist culture and individualist culture etc.