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Multidisciplinary perspectives on intercultural conflict 109

Not all studies have completely supported the link between individualism–col-
lectivism and conflict-handling preferences. For example, Gire and Carment
(1992) investigated Canadian (individualist) and Nigerian (collectivist) prefer-
ences and found there were various similarities. Moreover, others have explored
the influence of other values. Leung et al. (1990), for instance, investigated the
impact of masculinity–femininity using respondents from Canada and The
Netherlands (masculine and feminine societies respectively but both highly
individualistic, according to Hofstede’s data), and found that their Dutch re-
spondents preferred more harmony-enhancing procedures than their Canadian
respondents did.
Other researchers have used Schwartz’s (1992; Schwartz et al. 2001) frame-
work of cultural values to examine the interrelationship between values and con-
flict management styles. Schwartz’s framework has the advantage that it can be
measured easily and reliably at the individual level, whereas Hofstede’s figures
are culture level measures; moreover, the other main individual level measure,
independent–interdependent self-construal (as referred to by Ting-Toomey
1999), may be too broad and also of dubious validity (Kim 2005: 108).
In Schwartz’s (1992; Schwartz et al. 2001) individual-level framework, there
are ten universal value constructs, and they fall into four main groupings: Self-
Enhancement, Self-Transcendence, Openness to Change, and Conservation.
Morris et al. (1998) analysed the extent to which Schwartz’s cultural values
could predict two of the grid framework conflict handling styles: avoidance and
competition. In a study of Chinese and US managers in joint venture firms, they
predicted that the Chinese managers would have a greater preference for avoid-
ance than the US managers, and that the US managers would have a greater pref-
erence for competition than the Chinese managers. These predictions were con-
firmed. They also hypothesized that (a) an avoiding style would reflect an
individual’s orientation towards Conservation values, and that any Chinese–US
differences in avoiding style would be mediated by country differences in pref-
erence for Conservation; and that (b) a competition style would reflect an indi-
vidual’s orientation towards Self-Enhancement, that any Chinese–US differ-
ences in competition style would be mediated by country differences in
preference for Self-Enhancement. Both of these hypotheses were confirmed.
Bilsky and Jehn (2002), in a study using German students, found that avoid-
ing behaviour was negatively correlated with Self-Direction (a component value
of Openness to Change), and since Schwartz (1992) argues that Openness to
Change and Conservation (with the latter comprising the component values Se-
curity, Conformity and Tradition) are polar opposites, this fits in with Morris et
al.’s (1998) findings. In other words, the studies found that Conservation was im-
portant to Chinese MBA students and this was linked with a preference to avoid
conflict, whereas the polar opposite value Openness to Change was important to
German students and this was linked with a preference NOT to avoid conflict.