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Lecture 6

Culture and conflict


Culture and confict
Culture
A group level construct that embodies a distinctive
system of traditions, beliefs, values, norms, rituals,
symbols and meanings that is shared by a majority of
interacting individuals in a community.
Culture refers to a set of shared values, norms and
beliefs held by the members of a group such as a
nation or organization (Hofstede, 199!.
"thnocentrism de#ned as $the vie% things in %hich
one&s o%n group is the center of everything, and all
others are scaled and rated %ith reference to it.
Problems Caused by Cultural Diferences
A 'ritish boss as(ed a ne%, young American
employee if he %ould li(e to have an early lunch at
11 am each day. )he employee said *+eah, that
%ould be great,* )he boss immediately said -.ith
that (ind of attitude, you may as %ell forget about
lunch,- )he employee and the boss %ere both
ba/ed by %hat %ent %rong. 01n "ngland, saying
-yeah- in that conte2t is seen as rude and
disrespectful.3
)he American employee of a 4erman company is
disturbed by all the closed doors 55 it seems cold and
unfriendly.
Some Perceptions of Americans
6inland. -Americans al%ays %ant to say your name7
*)hat*s a nice tie, 8i((o. Hi 8i((o, ho% are you
8i((o$
1ndian. -Americans are al%ays in a hurry. 9ust %atch
the %ay they %al( do%n the street.:
;enyan. -Americans are distant. )hey are not really
close to other people 55 even other Americans.:
Colombia. -1n the <nited =tates, they thin( that life
is only %or(.:
1ndonesia. -1n the <nited =tates everything has to be
tal(ed about and analyzed. "ven the littlest thing
has to be *.hy, %hy %hy>*.?
Diferences between cultures
1.Intercultural communication
1ntercultural communication means sharing
information or e2change across di@erent cultures andA
or social groups.
)raCc light is universally accepted in many
countries but there are many other signs and symbols
that are arbitrary across cultures. ".g., in the <=
%aving a hand signi#es $good5bye& but in 9apan a
similar gesture represents a reDuest to $come here&.
Ei@erences bet%een cultures
2.Intercultural confict
Ferceived incompatibility of values, norms,
processes, or goals bet%een a minimum of t%o cultural
parties over identity, relational, andAor substantive
issues. ".g., conGict bet%een7
i. "astern (high conte2t! vs. .estern (lo% conte2t!
ii. Fo%er distance
iii. 6ace saving
iv. EirectA indirect communication
v. )ime
i. East !i"! conte#t$ %ersus &est low conte#t$
"astern Cultures are often perceived as high conte2t
cultures %here collectivism is important. 1n high conte2t
cultures people7
5
<se a lot of indirect and nonverbal communication
5
8ostly collectivistic.
5 Flace greater value on silence, more indirect and
ambiguous.
5 Hely more on social relationships
5 ;no% ho% to behave %ithout e2plicit %ritten
instructions in
many social settings.
Feople from .estern cultures on the other hand are7
5 8ore individualistic and use lo% conte2t
communication,
5 <se concrete language and direct communication to
get their
point across.
5 )end to tal( more, discourteous of other&s feelings and
rely
more on %ritten documents.
ii. Power distance
"astern cultures tend to have a very hierarchical
structure, %here %estern cultures are more egalitarian.
".g., 1n 9apan, younger employees are e2pected to
support the people in higher positions and never give
their opinion directly to the manager.
1n multinational companies this is very visible,
especially %hen the employer and the manager are not
from the same culture. An Asian manager %ants the
employee to be loyal to the company and to him,
%ithout sho%ing o%n initiative, %hile a %estern
employee %ould %ant to be able to sho% his s(ills and
to pursue personal ful#lment.
iii. 'ace sa%in"
Freserving o%n image is something that everybody
does, but it is the %ay of doing this that di@ers from
one part of the %orld to another.
1n .estern cultures maintaining face means preserving
your image for other people and yourself. )o do this,
you can negotiate, debate, discuss di@erences and
most of all defending your o%n opinion.
"astern people may %ant to avoid conGict as much as
possible to maintain their image. )hey also do not just
ta(e their o%n opinion into account, but they listen to
%hat their group thin(s.
"astern employees also prefer to (eep their opinion to
themselves rather than losing their face.
i%. Direct and indirect communication
8ost .esterners %ill spea( openly %ith honesty and are
al%ays to the point. Eirect communication is meant
that a person spea(s out his intention %ith %ords, he
%ill say e2actly %hat he means and often used in
.estern (lo% conte2t cultures!.
1n "astern modesty and relations are highly valued.
)hey tend to use %ords to hide their true intention and
sho% their real intention mostly only through nonverbal
communication and it is visible.
"astern people also avoid saying *no* to preserve the
relationship, instead of saying that something is
impossible they %ill soften their message by using the
%ord *diCcult$.
%. (ime

)he dominant groups in 4erman culture are said to be
monochronic in their approach of time. Feople %ho
vie% time as monochronic do not %ant to %aste time,
but are eager to get to conGict resolution Duic(ly.
8onochronic cultures li(e to do just one thing at a time.
Feople %ho vie% time as polychronic may focus more
on the relationship, building trust and commitment,
before moving onto resolution of the particular conGict.
Folychronic cultures li(e to do multiple things at the
same time. A manager*s oCce in a polychronic culture
typically has an open door, a ringing phone and a
meeting all going on at the same time. Folychronic
cultures include the 6rench and the Americans.
A !ierarc!ical )odel of Cultural understandin"
)he cultural perspectives governs one&s understanding
or de#nition of recurring social situations, activities or
events.
Iuestioning our e2pectations of others& behavior, being
adaptive to the situation, and remaining alert to %hat
%e perceive the other&s e2pectations to be %ill help us
to act more competently in conGict situations.
Cultural perspecti%e*%alue system
.orld vie% J is a person&s model for perceiving, relating
and interpreting cultureA%orld
De+nition of t!e situation*social relations!ip
Kne&s perception or understanding of a recurring social setting %ith
particular roles, rules, spatial arrangements, and a purpose or goal.
5 =ome rules might be applicable to certain cultures
,uman be!a%ior*communication
=igni#cant behavior is learned through e2perience as %e are
positively or negatively reinforced for performing it.
6igure 1. A hierarchical 8odel of Cultural understanding
Source R. S. Lulofs., & D. D. Cahn.(2003). Confict from theory to
action (2
nd
d.). !S"# "llyn and $acon
)his model describe the role of cultural inGuence in
communication and conGict processes.
Cultural diferences in confict resolution
Hesearch on cross5cultural variations in conGict
resolution strategies has found that people of di@erent
cultures use signi#cantly di@erent conGict resolution
strategies (6isher, 19LM, )se, 6rancis, 199, )ung,
19L!
6letcher and Kle(alns (199L!. Cultural di@erences in
conGict
resolution7 1ndividualism and collectivism in the Asia5
Faci#c Hegion, %or&in' (a)er *S, 2, 151
Participants
Farticipants J 1L9
Australia (n N9O!
Asians (n N9P! J H;, 8sia, =pore, Qietnam and other countries
Instrument-
1.)homas5;ilman ConGict 8KE"
R.)riandis 1SECKT
P.Eemographic Duestionnaire
Eata %ere analyzed in a R (birthplace7 AustAAsia! U
R (culture71ndCol! U V ConGict resolution strategies
(accommodating, competing, compromising, avoiding and
collaborating! analysis of variance.
'i%e strate"ies for confict resolution
1.Collaboratin" style
'ased on integrating and problem solving, %ith the
aim of
ma2imizing joint outcomes.
2. Competin" style J assertive and uncooperative
HeGects little concern for others& goals J standing up
your
rights and trying to %in.
.. Accommodatin" style J unassertive and
cooperative
(opposite of competing!. 1nvolves the sacri#ce of one&s
o%n
concerns to satisfy the concerns of others. =elf5less
generosity
or charity, obeying another person&s order.
'i%e strate"ies for confict resolution
/. Compromisin" style 0 moderate in both assertive
and
cooperativeness
A moderate concern for one&s o%n and the other
party&s
outcomes that freDuently translates into a $split the
di@erence&
approach.
1. A%oidin" style J does not deal %ith conGict
)he immediate onset of conGict is avoided and the
parties %ait
until there is a better time to try and overcome the
conGict.
Table 1
Average Scores on Thomas-Kilmann Conflict MODE as a function of
Individualism-Collectivism
________________________________________________________
Compete Collaorate Compromise Avoid Accommodate
________________________________________________________
I!D "#$% "#$& %#&& %#'( "#)(
CO* (#+,

"#$- 7.03 %#(% %#,)
____________________________________________________________________________________
!ote. Means /ith different suscripts are sig# different
Across self-construal
Collectivists have a significantly weaker preference for competing
Collectivists have a stronger preference for compromising.
Individualist have a stronger preference for avoiding and compromising
than they do for accommodating.
)able R
"+era'e Scores on ,homas-.ilmann Confict /*D as a
function of $irth)lace
________________________________________________________
Compete Collaorate Compromise Avoid Accommodate
________________________________________________________
A0ST "#%, "#$& 6.56

"#+'

"#"%
ASIA!S &#(&

"#+) 6.99 6.85

"#$,
____________________________________________________________________________________
Across birthplace
Asians have a significantly weaker preference for competing than Aust.
Asians showed a stronger preference for compromising and
avoiding than for accommodating and collaborating.
Australians showed a much stronger preference for compromising
ConGict resolution styles
________________________________________________________
Compete Collaorate Compromise Avoid Accommodate
n 123
________________________________________________________
Aust 25 (18.1) 14 (10.1) 1 !1".#$ 1% !1&.1$ 1' !1&.($
Asian 6 !%.#$ % !".($ 1 !1".#$ 16 (11.6) 1& !."$
____________________________________________________________________________________
<S resolutions on cultures
1.Hespect all life
R.Heject violence
P.=hare %ith others
.Tisten to understand
V.Freserve the planet
O.Hediscover solidarity
W..or( for %omen&s eDuality
L.Farticipate in democracy
'onta (199P! indicates W peaceful cultures around
the %orld.
(!ese cultures use non%iolent confict
resolution
strate"ies.
Amish culture ) *erman
+utterites culture ) *erman
Inuit culture ) *erman
,ennonites and -apotec
or .orth America
the /iaroa of
0outh America
0emai of Asia
Culture of peace
A culture of peace as a culture that includes
$patterns of belief, values, behavior and
accompanying institutional arrangements that
promote mutual caring and %ell5being as %ell as
eDuality that includes appreciation of di@erence and
eDuitable sharing of the earth&s resources among its
members and %ith all living things ('oulding, RMMM,
p.1!.
)he year 2222 was declared t!e International
3ear for t!e Culture of Peace and the decade from
RMM1 to RM1M %as declared the decade for a culture of
peace and nonviolence for children of the %orld.
Conclusions
Culture is al%ays a factor in conGict, %hether it plays
a central role or inGuences it subtly and gently.
(utorial Discussion
.hen conGict arises, do you normally loo( for $personal&
causes of the conGict, or do you consider %hether
cultural perspective has something to do %ith the
conGict that is
occurring>
Ho% can you become more a%are of the role of culture
in the various conGicts that you e2perience.
Compare your culture and the culture of a friend you
(no% fairly %ell across the various values discussed in
lecture about culture and conGict.
Kn %hich are you similar> .hich of these values is
li(ely to cause conGict bet%een you and your friend>

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