只要有人類的地方就有衝突存在，菁英對於衝突的態度是正面抑是負面的，將會影響其對其他問題之態度與處理方式。本文將探討縣市菁英對於是否有衝突干擾地方事務之完成的態度，以及他們對此種衝突干擾地方之發展的程度之看法。除此之外，本文將分別討論菁英對十一項問題差異是否會造成居民分裂的看法，並更進一步與他國菁英態度比較。接著，將討論究竟是角色理論、社會化理論、團體理論、抑是環境背景理論較具解釋力。 本文所使用的資料乃是採自中山大學廖達琪教授所主持、以及趙永茂、黃秀端等多位教授協同主持之國科會研究--「臺灣地方菁英政治文化與決策影響力」之面訪資料。調查訪問於1993年7月至9月間進行。訪問對象包括六個縣市的重要政府官員、縣市議員、該縣市選出之國大代表、立法委員與省議員、社團代表、以及朝野兩黨之縣市黨部負責人。 整體言之，我們可以看出臺灣地方菁英對衝突之態度呈現與他國不同的模式。有六成之地方菁英表示地方有衝突發生，而這些人幾乎都表示此種模式已經干擾地方的發展，是所有國家中最高的，顯然我國地方菁英對衝突最感到憂心。但是在另一方面，若就各別問題來分析其差異是否會造成居民分裂時，回答會的平均百分比卻又是最低的。此種平均百分比最低的現象，可能是因為我國地方菁英主要的關切為派系與政治觀點之差異，而對其他衝突卻不甚關切，使得平均百分比被拉低了。 接著我們探討究竟是那些因素足以解釋地方菁英對衝突看法之差異，我們發現社會背景和菁英之職位與菁英對衝突之看法幾乎無關。至於政黨歸屬方面，民進黨顯然對衝突問題較為關切，尤其是在所得、社會背景、省籍、派系以及政治觀點之差異，在控制其他變數之後，皆呈現顯著水準。不過影響地方菁英對衝突看法最重要的因素是縣市本身之差異，人口較多且派系複雜之縣市的地方菁英，顯然對衝突影響之認知較高，對十一項衝突是否會造成居民分裂之平均百分比亦最高，由此可見環境背景理論較能解釋我國地方菁英對衝突之態度。

This paper dealed with the elite perception of conflict in their communities. The study also attempted to explore the role of position, of party, as well as social calss origns as determinants of elite views on conflict, that is whether elite conflict orientations as product of early socialization, or the result of exposure to party and group politics, or explicable in terms of commnity context in which they are leaders. In order to answer these questions, interviews were conducted during the summer of 1993 in six different counties or cities. Local elites interviewed including important local officials, city councilmen, provisional councilmen, national assemblymen, and national legislatures, group leaders, and local party leaders. Compared with other democratic countries, Taiwan's elites reported the lowest awareness of the existence of conflicts, however, they were much more concerned about their interference with the development of the community. All the possible factors were examined, we found that socialization theory and role theory had almost no effect on elites' percetion of conflict in their communities. Elites' party belongings had some efffect, but not strong. The most important explanatory factor was the context where they are leaders. Local elites reponded to conflicts differed by city.