1. Intercultural Conflict

2. Defining Intercultural Conflict
The implicit or explicit emotional struggle between persons of different cultural communities over perceived or actual incompatibility of cultural ideologies and values, situational norms, goals, face-orientations, scarce resources, styles/processes, and/or outcomes in a face-to-face (or mediated) context within a sociohistorical embedded system.

3. Kim’s Model of Intercultural Conflict

4. A Culture-Based Social Ecological Conflict Model
Layers: macro, exo, meso, and micro
Highlights
primary orientation factors
situational appraisals
conflict processes
conflict competence
Includes conflict competence criteria and outcomes
effectiveness/appropriateness
productivity/satisfaction
principled ethics.

5. Ting-Toomey’s Model of Conflict

6. Face
Face—a person’s sense of favorable self-worth or self-image experienced during communicative situations.
Emotional extension of self-concept
A universal concept
Face Negotiation Theory—explains how people of different cultures manage conflict.

7. Facework Self-face need vs. other-face need
Facework—the communicative strategies employed to manage one’s own face or to support or challenge another’s face.
Can be used to initiate, manage, or terminate conflict.
Facework strategies:
Dominating
Avoiding
Integrating
Self-face need vs. other-face need

8. Conflict Communication Styles
Avoiding
Dominating
Obliging
Compromising
Third-party help
Emotional expression
Neglect
Integrating

9. The Intercultural Style Inventory (ICS)
a theoretical model and assessment tool used by professional mediators and trainers
Conflict style, then, is the behavioral component of conflict
How direct/indirect and emotionally expressive/restrained one is defines his or her intercultural conflict style

10. Intercultural Conflict Styles

11. Individualist vs. Collectivism in Conflict
Individualists are outcome-oriented in conflict.
Individualists become frustrated when feelings aren’t asserted honestly.
Conflict is perceived as productive when tangible resolutions are reached.
Collectivists are process-oriented in conflict.
Conflict is perceived as threatening when substantive issues are addressed before facework management.
Conflict is perceived as unproductive when face issues and group feelings are not addressed properly.

12. Context and Conflict
Low-context cultures are more direct and explicit in conflict.
Separate conflict from the individual.
Prefer a solution-oriented style.
High-context cultures are more indirect and implicit in conflict.
Connect conflict with the individual.
Prefer a non-confrontational style.