I. Intercultural conflict: cultural background factors

A. Culture-based conflict lenses

1. Intercultural conflict: implicit or explicit emotional struggle or frustration between persons of different cultures over perceived incompatible values, norms, face orientations, goals, scarce resources, processes, and/or outcomes in communication situation

2. Independent-self conflict lens views conflict from a(n):

a. Content conflict goal lens (tangible conflict issues)

b. Clear win-lose conflict approach

c. "Doing" angle (something broken needs fixing)

d. Outcome-driven mode (clear resolution needed)

3. Interdependent-self conflict lens views conflict from a:

a. Relational process lens (relationship and feeling issues)

b. Win-win relational approach (feelings, "faces" both saved)

c. "Being" angle (repair relational trust)

d. Long-term compromise negotiation mode (no "winner"/"loser")

B. Intercultural conflict perceptions: three primary perception features of intercultural conflict:

1. Involves intercultural perceptions (i.e., ethnocentrism, stereotypes)

2. Ethnocentric perceptions add biases to conflict attribution process

3. Attribution process compounded by different conflict styles

C. Intercultural conflict goal issues

1. Content goals: practical issues external to individuals involved

2. Relational conflict goals: relational definition, desire in interaction           

3. Identity-based goals: face-saving and face-honoring issues

a. Cultural identity: how person defines self culturally, ethnically, linguistically, religiously

b. Social identity: re profession, age, social class, and gender

c. Personal identity: personal self-esteem, self-respect issues

D. Perceived scarce resources

1. Conflict resources: tangible rewards that people strive for in conflict

2. Tangible resources: items, time, scarce commodities, etc.

3. Intangible resources: desires or emotional needs (security, etc.)

4. Three techniques to negotiate scarce resources:

a. Differentiation: acknowledge different perspectives and divide up the large puzzle into different pieces

b. Expansion: search for alternative paths or creative solutions

c. Compensation: offer exchanges or concessions for conflict issues each values differently

II. Intercultural conflict process factors

A. Defining conflict styles

1. Face: socially approved self-image and other-image issues

2. Facework: verbal and nonverbal strategies to maintain, defend, or upgrade our social image (or attack or defend others')

3. Conflict communication style: patterned responses to conflict

4. Three approaches to studying conflict styles:

a. Dispositional: conflict style due to socialization, disposition

b. Situational: conflict topic and situation shapes styles

c. Systems: integrates a and b. People have predominant styles but modify based on situation, etc.

5. Five-style conflict grid conceptualizes five conflict style tendencies

a. Dominating (or competitive/controlling): push for one's own position above others' conflict interest

b. Avoiding: dodge conflict topic, party, or situation

c. Obliging (or accommodating): concern for others' conflict interest above one's own conflict position

d. Compromising: give-and-take concession to reach mid-point

e. Integrating (or collaborative): concern for both oneself and others' interest

B. Cross-cultural conflict styles

1. Face-negotiation theory: how individualism-collectivism value patterns influence use of diverse face concerns and conflict styles in different cultures

2. Individualists: self-face oriented, direct, low-context style

3. Collectivists: other-/mutual-face oriented, indirect, high-context style

4. Independent-self individuals: competitive/dominating conflict styles

5. Interdependent-self individuals: avoiding, obliging, integrating, and compromising styles

C. Cross-ethnic conflict styles and facework

1. African American conflict styles: energetic, nonverbally animated, emotionally expressive

2. Asian American conflict styles: Confucianism influence (roles, status, collective face-saving), avoiding, obliging, sometimes "silence"

3. Latino/a American conflict styles: tactfulness important, avoidance sometimes preferred over head-on confrontation

4. Native American conflict styles: verbal restraint, other- and mutual-face sensitivity, deliberate silence, ask elder for wisdom

III. Competent intercultural conflict skills: four critical skills

A. Facework management

1. Core issues of protecting our communication identity during conflict and dealing with others' communication identity

2. Self-oriented face-saving behaviors: to regain or defend one's image after threats to face or face loss

3. Other-oriented face-giving behaviors: to support others' face claims and help prevent further face loss or restore face

4. Giving face: not humiliating others' communication identity in public

B. Mindful listening

1. Mindful listening: learning to listen responsively or ting (a Chinese word that means "attending mindfully with our ears, eyes, focused heart")

2. Creating new categories: learn to apply culture-sensitive concepts to interpret conflict variation behaviors

3. Paraphrasing skills involve:

a. verbally summarizing content meaning of the message

b. nonverbally echoing your interpretation of emotional meaning

C. Cultural empathy: learned ability to understand others' self-experiences, convey understanding effectively

D. Mindful reframing

1. Highly creative, mutual-face honoring skill

2. Mindful process of using language to change how a person defines or thinks about experiences and views the conflict situation

IV. Intercultural toolkit: Recaps and checkpoints

A. To deal constructively with conflict in a collectivistic culture, individualists need to do the following:

1. Be mindful of mutual face-saving premises

2. Practice patient, mindful observation and limit why questions

3. Mindful listening skills, attend to others' identities and relational expectations

B. In encountering a conflict situation in an individualistic culture, collectivists need to do the following:

1. Assertive conflict behavior, state a clear thesis then develop key points

2. Use "I" statements and more content-clarification questions

3. Use active listening skills; do not rely solely on nonverbal signals