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The Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory: A Conceptual Framework and Measure of Intercultural Conflict Resolution Approaches

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The Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory: A Conceptual Framework and Measure of Intercultural Conflict Resolution Approaches
Author(s)Hammer, Mitchell R.
AbstractGrounded in the pragmatics of human communication perspective, the current study examined how disagreements and emotion function across cultural context in resolving conflict. Specifically, the research effort developed the Intercultural Conflict Style (ICS) inventory, a 36-item measure of intercultural conflict resolution style based on two core dimensions: Direct vs. indirect approaches to dealing with disagreements and emotionally expressive vs. emotionally restrained patterns for dealing with the affective dimension of conflict interaction. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) found the proposed two-factor model was a good fit to the data. Analysis of the CFA findings identified a final set of 18 direct/indirect items and 18 emotional expressive/restraint items. The direct/indirect scale obtained a coefficient alpha of .73 and the emotional expressiveness/restrain scale achieved .85 reliability. Validity testing of the scales found no significant effects by gender, education or previous intercultural living experience. A theoretical framework for understanding differences in conflict resolution styles grounded in the development of this inventory, a practical, four-quadrant intercultural conflict resolution style model is proposed based on high/low levels of directness and high/low levels of emotional expressiveness: (1) discussion style (direct & emotionally restrained), (2) engagement style (direct & emotionally expressive), (3) accommodations style (indirect & emotionally restrained) and (4) dynamic style (indirect and emotionally expressive).
IssueNo6
Pages675-695
ArticleAccess to Article
SourceInternational Journal of Intercultural Relations
VolumeNo29
PubDateNovember 2005
ISBN_ISSN0147-1767


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