Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Defeated With Their Own Weapons: Conflict Management Adaptation in Cross-Cultural Conflict Among British and Spanish Expatriates

Franco, Lea LU (2020) PSYP01 20201
Department of Psychology
Abstract (Swedish)
Due to intercultural encounters becoming more and more frequent in times of globalization, the importance of successful intercultural conflict management has increased. In intercultural conflict, cultural differences in conflict management styles (CMS) can lead to misunderstandings and poorer negotiation outcomes. However, it is yet to be understood if and how individuals overcome CMS discrepancies. A few studies have shown that interculturally experienced individuals adapt their CMS towards their counterpart’s cultural background in Western-Eastern samples. This study investigated this phenomenon in a European context: CMS preferences of British expatriates in Spain (n = 113) and Spanish expatriates in the UK (n = 141) were tested in two... (More)
Due to intercultural encounters becoming more and more frequent in times of globalization, the importance of successful intercultural conflict management has increased. In intercultural conflict, cultural differences in conflict management styles (CMS) can lead to misunderstandings and poorer negotiation outcomes. However, it is yet to be understood if and how individuals overcome CMS discrepancies. A few studies have shown that interculturally experienced individuals adapt their CMS towards their counterpart’s cultural background in Western-Eastern samples. This study investigated this phenomenon in a European context: CMS preferences of British expatriates in Spain (n = 113) and Spanish expatriates in the UK (n = 141) were tested in two imagined conflict situations with a colleague of their own or the other culture respectively. Results revealed that Spanish and British participants differed significantly in their use of dominating and avoiding CMS and that they partially adapted to the other culture’s CMS patterns. Further, the expatriates’ Cultural Intelligence, cultural experience, and daily interaction level with host nationals were tested as predictors of the amount of CMS adaptation in a hierarchical regression analysis. None of the variables turned out to be a significant predictor. Implications for the understanding of intercultural conflict dynamics and future research directions are discussed, including suggestions for an adjustment of the culture-based social-ecological conflict model. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Franco, Lea LU
supervisor
organization
course
PSYP01 20201
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Intercultural conflict, conflict management, cross-cultural adaptation, cultural intelligence, cross-cultural experience, expatriates, Spain, United Kingdom
language
English
id
9014005
date added to LUP
2020-06-18 09:21:05
date last changed
2020-06-18 09:21:05
@misc{9014005,
  abstract     = {{Due to intercultural encounters becoming more and more frequent in times of globalization, the importance of successful intercultural conflict management has increased. In intercultural conflict, cultural differences in conflict management styles (CMS) can lead to misunderstandings and poorer negotiation outcomes. However, it is yet to be understood if and how individuals overcome CMS discrepancies. A few studies have shown that interculturally experienced individuals adapt their CMS towards their counterpart’s cultural background in Western-Eastern samples. This study investigated this phenomenon in a European context: CMS preferences of British expatriates in Spain (n = 113) and Spanish expatriates in the UK (n = 141) were tested in two imagined conflict situations with a colleague of their own or the other culture respectively. Results revealed that Spanish and British participants differed significantly in their use of dominating and avoiding CMS and that they partially adapted to the other culture’s CMS patterns. Further, the expatriates’ Cultural Intelligence, cultural experience, and daily interaction level with host nationals were tested as predictors of the amount of CMS adaptation in a hierarchical regression analysis. None of the variables turned out to be a significant predictor. Implications for the understanding of intercultural conflict dynamics and future research directions are discussed, including suggestions for an adjustment of the culture-based social-ecological conflict model.}},
  author       = {{Franco, Lea}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Defeated With Their Own Weapons: Conflict Management Adaptation in Cross-Cultural Conflict Among British and Spanish Expatriates}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}