The Context of Conflict

Conflict, like any form of communication, takes place in a context that is physical, sociopsychological, temporal, and – perhaps most important – cultural.

The Physical, Sociopsychological, and Temporal Contexts

The physical context – for example, whether you engage in conflict privately or publicly, alone or in front of children or relatives – will influence the way the conflict is conducted as well as the effects that this conflict will have.

The sociopsychological context also will influence the conflict. If the atmosphere is one of equality, for example, the conflict is likely to progress very differently than it would in an atmosphere of inequality. A friendly or a hostile context will exert different influences on the conflict.

The temporal context will likewise prove important to understand. A conflict that follows a series of similar conflicts will be seen differently than a conflict that follows a series of enjoyable experiences and an absence of conflict. A conflict immediately after a hard day of work will engender feelings different from a conflict after an enjoyable dinner.

The Cultural Context

The cultural context will exert considerable influence on the issues people fight about as well as on how they engage in conflict. A particularly clear example occurs frequently in many large cities throughout the country; it's seen in the conflict between African American customers, who prefer a personal involvement with the people with whom they do business, and Korean storekeepers, who prefer to maintain considerable distance between themselves and their customers. To the African American customer, the Korean storeowner seems to be disconfirming and unwilling to provide courteous service. To the Korean, the African American's personal approach is seen as disrespectful.

There are numerous other examples of the importance of culture in conflict. To mention just a few: Eighteen-year-olds are more likely to experience conflict with their parents about their living style if they live in the United States than if they live in Sweden, where cohabitation is much more accepted. Similarly, male infidelity is more likely to cause conflict in American couples than in southern European couples. Students from the United States are more likely to engage in conflict with another U.S. student than with someone from another culture; Chinese students, on the other hand, are more likely to engage in a conflict with a non-Chinese student than with another Chinese. In a comparison of German and Indonesian adolescents, German students preferred a more confrontational style, whereas Indonesian students preferred a more submissive response style. Vietnamese are more likely to avoid conflict than are people from the United States..

In other research, when Americans and Chinese students were asked to analyze a conflict episode, say between a mother and her daughter, they saw it quite differently. American students, for example, were more likely to decide in favor of the mother or the daughter – they tended to see one side as right and the other as wrong. The Chinese students, however, were more likely to see the validity of both sides; both mother and daughter were right but both were also wrong. This finding is consistent with the Chinese preference for proverbs that contain a contradiction (for example, "Too modest is half boastful"), which Americans often see as "irritating."

Another example of the cultural influence on conflict is the tendency of people in collectivist cultures to avoid conflict more than members of individualist cultures. Further, Americans and Japanese differ in their view of the aim or purpose of conflict. Most Japanese see conflicts and their resolution in terms of compromise; Americans, on the other hand, generally see conflict in terms of winning.

The ways in which members of different cultures express conflict also differ. In Japan, for example, it's especially important that you not embarrass the person with whom you are in conflict, especially if that conflict occurs in a small group or in public. This face-saving principle prohibits the use of such strategies as personal rejection or verbal aggressiveness. In the United States both men and women (ideally at least) are expected to express their desires and complaints openly and directly, but many Middle Eastern and Pacific rim cultures would discourage women from such expressions and would expect a more agreeable and permissive posture. Even within a given general culture, more specific subcultures differ from one another in their methods of conflict management. African American men and women and European American men and women, for example, engage in conflict in very different ways. The issues that cause and aggravate conflict, the conflict strategies that are expected and accepted, and the entire attitude toward conflict vary from one group to the other. For example, according to one study, African American men prefer to manage conflict with clear arguments and a focus on problem solving; African American women, however, deal with conflict through being assertive and respectful. Another study found that African American females used more direct controlling strategies (for example, assuming control over the conflict and arguing persistently for their point of view) than did European American females. European American females, on the other hand, used more problem-solution-oriented conflict management styles than did African American women. Interestingly, African American and European American men were very similar in their interpersonal conflict management strategies: Both tended to avoid or withdraw from relationship conflict. They preferred to keep quiet about their differences or downplay their significance.

Among Mexican Americans, researchers found that men sought to achieve mutual understanding by discussing the reasons for the conflict, whereas women focused on being supportive of the relationship. Among Anglo Americans, men tended to prefer direct and rational argument, whereas women often preferred flexibility. Similarly, people in Mexico (a collectivist culture) preferred conflict styles that emphasized concern for the others involved more than did people in the United States (an individualist culture).

The Negatives and Positives of Conflict

There are both negative and positive aspects or dimensions to conflict; and let's look at each of these.