  In collaborative small-group work, physics students need to both manage
social conflict and grapple with conceptual and epistemological differences. In
this paper, we document several outlets that students use as tools for managing
social conflict when addressing quantum mechanics tutorials in clinical focus
groups. These resources include epistemic distancing, humor, playing on
tutorial wording and looking ahead to subsequent questions. We present
preliminary analysis of episodes where students work through a Particle in a
Box tutorial. Each episode highlights a different manner of navigating social
tension: through shared epistemic humor in one case, and reinterpretation of
the question in the other.
