STEREOTYPES, DIVERSITY AND CONFLICT III:Individual Difference and Social Category, Cultural differences in values

<< STEREOTYPES, DIVERSITY, AND CONFLICT:Categories of Diversity Issues, Seven Mental Processes to Prove Stereotypes

MEDIATION I:When is mediation required, Processes Related to Mediation, Product of Mediation >>

Conflict Management HRM624

Lesson 29

STEREOTYPES, DIVERSITY AND CONFLICT III

Quotations

Life is one long process of getting tired. Samuel Butler (1835-1902) British writer, Painter and

musician.

Life is making us abandon established stereotypes and outdated views, it is making us discard illusions.

Michail Gorbachev (1931- ) Russian statesman.

Dual-Process Theory

When peoples are forming impressions about people and things in the world, they either gather the

information they need "from scratch" or draw inferences about the person by fitting him/ her into various

categories, including his/her own social category. The former type of impression formation is called

systematic processing, whereas the latter is called category-based processing.

The thinkers behind the dual-process theory view category-based and systematic processing as the poles

of continuum. A person who needs to form an impression of someone else in order to action will engage in

some category-based processing, plus a limited amount of systematic processing.

Dual-process theory relies on so-called cognitive miser assumption. This assumption is, in essence, that,

category-based processing is lot easier than systematic processing, category-based processing will be used

unless the person forming the impressions judges it to be insufficient under the circumstances.

Systematic processing may also be promoted by two other motivational sets:

1. Defense motivation

2. Impression motivation

One designed to protect the impression farmer's deeply seated, deeply valued self concepts if threatened,

called defense motivation.

One designed to reach a conclusion that satisfies a social goal, such as agreeing with more powerful person

or going along with a group---called impression motivation.

Dual-process theory predicts that category-based processing will be used, anyway, if there are insufficient

resources (time ,energy, attention) to devote to systematic impression formation, Why because, without

sufficient resources to process systematically, category based processing provides the best available

prediction of what others will do. This corollary to the dual-process theory is called the Sufficiency

principle

Sufficiency principle can be expressed as follows:

People use systematic processing to try to understand other people only if

1. They have plenty of time and resource to devote to task, AND

2. They are highly motivated to understand the situation accurately.

In the absence of these two requirements, people will use categories, such as stereotypes, to draw inferences

about people.

Cognitive Load

A competitive conflict stets the stage for the use of stereotyping: the sharing of information is minimized

and the stress and emotionality of a competitive and escalating conflict add to the cognitive load of the

situation.

Think through whether you have actual knowledge that a stereotype is true and what the implication of your

knowledge is for this situation: don't apply stereotypes unless absolutely necessary and only in the manners

that respect the dignity of the other negotiator.

102

Conflict Management HRM624

Individual Difference and Social Category

Remember that social group membership is but one facet of a person's identity; there are many more

differences among people of the same social group than difference between different social groups taken as

a whole.

If it is safe and appropriate within the context of the various relationships among conflict participants, make

the stereotyping issues part of the discussion. Besides helping the negotiation, this act will build bridges

among members of cultural groups. The term `in dependant self' and `interdependent self' have been

coined to describe how the orientation to social context plays out in an individual. Because an

interdependent self is role-dependent, this person tends to see his or her own characteristics as somewhat

fluid and changeable.

When independent and interdependent selves negotiate, the interdependent self may experience the

independent self as arrogant and insensitive, unwilling to bend to the vicissitudes of the situation because of

`principle,' whereas the independent self may experience the interdependent self's fluidity as dishonest and

lacking in integrity.

When culture produces variations in self-concept, these variations create differences in the manner in which

interests and basic needs are interpreted and expressed.

Although one can stereotype a Westerner as an independent self and an Easterner as an independent self, in

specific instances, these stereotypes will prove wrong. Even in a conflict that appears to lack cultural

diversity, self-interdependence may be an important variable.

Cultural differences in values

Cultural groups are also associated with commonalities in values, for example, religious freedom in US is

assumed as a basic value and transcends cultural differences. On the other hand, in certain countries, single

religion is considered as an appropriate enforcement. It is important to balance the rights of the individual

against the needs of the collective. Interpersonal harmony is important in collective cultures and creates

interdependence selves. Collectivists are, on average, more comfortable than individualists with mediation

by strong personalities. Collectivists value conflict resolution to restore social harmony.

Summary

We have learnt in this lesson, dual process theory, cognitive load and independent and interdependent

selves. These concepts are important to prevent, avoid and restore conflict.

103

Table of Contents: