The effects of collectivistic and individualistic values on conflict and decision-making : an experiment in China
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Journal of Applied Social Psychology
Publication Date
11-1-2010
Volume
40
Issue
11
First Page
2904
Last Page
2926
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
Abstract
In an experiment with 80 participants in China, protagonists with opposing views in organizations that valued collectivism, compared to individualism, were found to develop cooperative goals, were confident that they could work, sought to understand, and demonstrated that they understood the opposing arguments, accepted these arguments as reasonable, and combined positions to create an integrated decision. The inductions comparing participants who valued harmony as a goal or a technique in which they pretended to agree were only partially effective and did not yield significant differences on conflict dynamics and outcomes. Findings challenge traditional theorizing that collectivistic values lead to conflict avoidance, and support recent arguments that strong, cooperative relationships promote the productive discussion of opposing views in decision making.
DOI
10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00686.x
Print ISSN
00219029
E-ISSN
15591816
Funding Information
Financial support of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, RGC Grant Project No. LU (LU3404/05H) to the first author.
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Tjosvold, D., Wu, P., & Chen, Y. F. (2010). The effects of collectivistic and individualistic values on conflict and decision-making: An experiment in China. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 40(11), 2904-2926. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00686.x