Real Communication An Introduction

222 Part 2  Interpersonal Communication

a father to his son and new baby daughter. Although others in the group want

him to step back into his leadership role, they allow him the time to mourn

the death of his wife Lori, to repair his relationship with his son Carl, and to

bond with his new baby daughter. But when the camp is threatened, they

make it clear that he needs to step up as a leader and a defender once again.

How do you move from a defensive or uncertain climate to a supportive

one? Your first task is to make sure you know which climate you are experienc-

ing. Your gut instincts can be a credible guide here, but you can also make some

formal assessment of the climate situation. What are your past experiences with

this topic, this person or group, and these conditions? How did your own com-

munication contribute to the situation? Once you know the climate you are in,

you can take steps to move toward a supportive climate. Figure 8.1 offers several

communication steps to help you find your way to supportive conflict climates.

Culture and Conflict

Culture and conflict are clearly linked. If we consider how important culture is

to our identities and how pervasive conflict is in our lives, we can begin to under-

stand how culture influences and guides our conflict experiences. Differences in

cultural values, beliefs, and attitudes can lead to conflict directly, and these dif-

ferences can also affect how individuals perceive conflict, what their goals are for

conflict, and how conflict is handled. Let’s examine the influence on conflict of

our broad cultural orientations, as well as our co-cultural group memberships.

Cultural Orientation

Research in culture and conflict management often examines differences between

individualist, low-context cultures and collectivist, high-context cultures. As you

learned in Chapter 5, individualist cultures emphasize personal needs, rights, and

identity over those of the collective or group, whereas collectivist cultures empha-

size group identity and needs. In addition, you’ll recall that people rely more on

Focusing on

the facts

Being open

to discussion

Asking for

help

Being

assertive

Being

open-minded

Suspending

judgment

Giving the

benefit

of the doubt

Being

problem-

oriented

Uncertain

Climates

Supportive

Climates

Defensive

Climates

FIGURE 8.1
STEPS TO REACHING
A SUPPORTIVE CLIMATE