Conflict Style Discussion Chapter

Total Length: 630 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 2

Page 1 of 2

Cultural Assessment

The Intercultural Conflict Style (ICS) inventory seeks to explain intercultural communication style along two dimensions. One is direct/indirect and the other is emotional expressiveness/emotional restraint. The theory is that the items in the questionnaire are mutually exclusive, such that one can evenly distribute the points. That was not my experience, but that is the working theory. The results of my quiz showed a score of 16 along the indirect/direct line, which is said to indicate a tendency towards indirectness. That's an interesting finding. Along the emotional expressiveness/restraint axis, I scored a 30, indicating a tendency towards emotional expressiveness. That makes more sense. This puts me in the dynamic style of conflict resolution.

Hammer (2005) notes that the dynamic style is oriented towards indirect strategies. Traits include hyperbole, associative arguments, ambiguity, repetition and use of third party intermediaries. These are not good traits for debate, quite frankly, but again these aren't things that I do much either.
I would have put myself in the direct category, and in that would have landed in the engagement style, which is more direct and confrontational in nature, but with emotions.

I do not find this interpretation to be accurate. There are methodological flaws. Choosing between responses that are not mutually exclusive lends to strange results, where I could reasonably choose strongly in favor of both questions. Moreover, I find it nonsensical that Hammer feels that choosing an emotional approach gives a "0" to directness. What is indirect about emotion? The entire structure of the inventory is based on the idea that directness and emotion lay on different axes, but the pair response methodology has us choosing one at the expense of the other. This means something that is a 5 on emotion is a 0 on directness. This leads to the conclusion of indirectness. Yet it does so on a premise that runs directly counter to the….....

Show More ⇣


     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Conflict Style" (2014, March 27) Retrieved May 15, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/conflict-style-186065

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Conflict Style" 27 March 2014. Web.15 May. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/conflict-style-186065>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Conflict Style", 27 March 2014, Accessed.15 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/conflict-style-186065