EXAMINING CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN CONFLICT-MANAGEMENT BEHAVIOR - A STRATEGY FOR FUTURE-RESEARCH

Studies of cross-cultural differences in conflict management behavior are reviewed. This review shows that existing studies are difficult to interpret, because researchers applied Western theories and Western m easures to non-Western cultures, without resting the cross-cultural eq uivalence of the constructs and the measures and without searching for emic constructs that might contribute to an understanding of non-West ern dbehavior. These three problems are discussed, and guidelines to h elp researchers avoid these problems are proposed.