Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument

I've taken the test twice already: one during a class, and the second at home. The outcome shows different results for some reason. I might have been in a rush when completing the test in class, because after thinking over the answers I've got the desired result at home. The order of styles did not change fundamentally, but it turned out that my first conflict style is rather Compromising than Avoiding. These two exchanged their order: Avoiding got 10 for the first time, and then 7, whereas Compromising had 7, and then 10. It is quite surprising though that the gap between the two remained the same - 3. This means that the second preference falls on the Avoiding style, and that I can easily change for this style. Score 7 is not that high which means that I still believe that conflicts can be resolved and we shouldn't be scared of them. Although, I still feel that I'm not a disputatious person, and I try to avoid conflict situations if it is possible. But I agree with the second result of the test that avoidance is not of my first priority. I always prefer compromising: finding a compromise for an issue that might suit for everyone.

However, it seems to me that still this test cannot truly define our styles, or at least mine. It's because I feel that I can apply any style discussed by Thomas-Kilmann (Compromising, Avoiding, Accommodating, Competing, and Collaborating) depending on a situation. For example, if I have a perfect team, I'd do my best to collaborate and support creative and effective solutions to perform the best as a team. But according to the results, I've got only 4 for the Collaborating style when I could rather put it under 10 as well. Accommodating style represents me as well, I put people's feelings high enough to consider, and I'm able to sacrifice my own position for solving a conflict. I wouldn't put it too high though and I'm ok with getting 5 for this. Competing and Collaborating both got a score 4. As was noted before, I disagree with the score for the collaborating style that I've received (the first result showed even as low as 3). But it seems to me mark 4 suits my positioning of the Competing style. Of course, it is acceptable sometimes to persuade and force but it depends on a subject of discourse. If it is something very important for the final outcome, then I'd try to analyse the situation, examine all the possible solutions, and offer the best one. If someone disagrees or questions the idea (this, in fact, is not rare), I'd try to persuade him by giving effective reasons and arguments. If this doesn't help, then I'd choose compromising as a solution. So I think, there is no strong border among all these conflict styles for me. I can easily jump from one to another without even noticing. So I'd rather put each of them on comparatively same level of preference.