John G. Oetzel

Face Concerns in Interpersonal Conflict A Cross-Cultural Empirical Test of the Face Negotiation Theory

This study sought to test the underlying assumption of the face-negotiation theory that face is an explanatory mechanism for culture’s influence on conflict behavior. A questionnaire was administered to 768 participants in 4 national cultures (China, Germany, Japan, and the United States) asking them to describe interpersonal conflict. The major findings of this study are as follows: (a) cultural individualism-collectivism had direct and indirect effects on conflict styles, (b) independent self-construal related positively with self-face and interdependent self-construal related positively with other-face, (c) self-face related positively with dominating conflict styles and other-face related positively with avoiding and integrating styles, and (d) face accounted for all of the total variance explained (100% of 19% total explained) in dominating, most of the total variance explained in integrating (70% of 20% total explained), and some of the total variance explained in avoiding (38% of 21% total explained) when considering face concerns, cultural individualismcollectivism, and self-construals.

Face and facework in conflict: a cross-cultural comparison of China, Germany, Japan, and the United States

The purpose of the current study was to investigate face and facework during conflicts across four national cultures: China, Germany, Japan, and the United States. A questionnaire was administered to 768 participants in the 4 national cultures, in their respective languages, to measure 3 face concerns and 11 facework behaviors. The major findings of the current study are as follows: (a) self-construals had the strongest effects on face concerns and facework with independence positively associated with self-face and dominating facework and interdependence positively associated with other- and mutual-face and integrating and avoiding facework; (b) power distance had small, positive effects on all three face concerns and avoiding and dominating facework; (c) individualistic, small-power distance cultures had less other-face concern and avoiding facework, and more dominating facework than collectivistic, large-power distance cultures; (d) Germans had more self- and mutual-face concerns and used defending more than U.S. Americans; (e) Chinese had more self-face concern and involved a third party more than Japanese; and (f) relational closeness and status only had small effects on face concerns and facework behavior.

Ethnic/cultural identity salience and conflict styles in four US ethnic groups

This study examined the influence of ethnic background, ethnic identity, and cultural identity on conflict styles among African Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans, and Latino(a) Americans. Panethnic factor analysis yielded four dimensions of ethnic identity: ethnic belonging, fringe, intergroup interaction, and assimilation. A secondorder factor analysis yielded two clear identity dimensions: ethnic identity salience and cultural identity salience. In addition, panethnic factor analysis yielded seven conflict management styles: integrating, compromising, dominating, avoiding, neglecting, emotional expression, and third party. Some of the major findings of the study are: (1) African Americans have a stronger ethnic identity and a weaker cultural identity than the other ethnic groups; (2) European Americans have a weaker ethnic identity than the other groups; (3) Latino(a) Americans and Asian Americans use avoiding and third party conflict styles more than African Americans, and, Asian Americans use avoiding conflict style more than European Americans; (4) Individuals with a strong cultural identity (i.e., identifying with the larger US culture) use integrating, compromising, and emotionally expressive conflict styles more than individuals with a weak cultural identity; (5) Individuals with a strong ethnic identity (i.e., identifying with their ethnic memberships) use integrating

The effects of self‐construals and ethnicity on self‐reported conflict styles

This study examined whether self‐construal and/or ethnicity predict self‐reported conflict styles of individuals in small group settings. Participants (N=349) completed a questionnaire about a cooperative or competitive task with members from an ingroup or outgroup. Comparisons between Latino(a)s (n=115) and European Americans (n=234) suggest that: (1) self‐construal is a better predictor of conflict styles than ethnic/cultural background; (2) dominating conflict styles are associated positively with independent self‐construals while avoiding, obliging, and compromising conflict styles are associated positively with interdependent self‐construals; and (3) integrating conflict styles are associated strongly and positively with interdependent self‐construals and weakly and positively with independent self‐construals.

Self‐construal types and conflict management styles

The purpose of the current study was to explore the effects of ethnic background, sex, and self‐construal types on conflict styles among African Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans, and Latina(o) Americans. Self‐construal, or self‐image, is composed of two aspects: an independent self and an interdependent self (Markus & Kitayama, 1991, 1994). Four self‐construal types result from a combination of the two components of self: biconstrual, independent, interdependent, and ambivalent. It was predicted and found that self‐construal provides a better explanation of conflict styles than ethnicity or sex. The participants (N = 662) completed a questionnaire that investigated their self‐construals and conflict styles in acquaintance conflicts. The major findings of the study were as follows: (a) biconstruals, independents, and interdependents use integrating and compromising more than ambivalents (as expected); (b) biconstruals use emotional expression more than ambivalents (as expected); (c) biconstruals use dominating more than interdependents and ambivalents (as expected); (d) interdependents and ambivalents use third‐party help more than biconstruals and independents; and (e) ambivalents use neglect more than biconstruals, independents, and interdependents; and (0 males use dominating more than females.

Exploring the dimensions of organizational assimilation: Creating and validating a measure

The purpose of this study was to create and validate a measure of organizational assimilation index. Organizational assimilation describes the interactive mutual acceptance of newcomers into organizational settings. Members from the advertising, banking, hospitality, university, nonprofit, and publishing industries participated in two phases of research. In the first phase, 13 interviewees suggested six dimensions of organizational assimilation: familiarity with others, organizational acculturation, recognition, involvement, job competency, and adaptation/role negotiation. The second phase involved analysis of a survey of 342 participants that appeared to validate the six dimensions. The OAIs construct validity was tested and supported through the use of three other scales. Job satisfaction and organizational identification related positively to assimilation, while propensity to leave related negatively.

A typology of facework behaviors in conflicts with best friends and relative strangers

The purpose of the current study was to create a typology of facework behaviors in interpersonal conflicts between best friends and relative strangers for Japanese and U.S. participants. In phase I, 286 participants responded to open‐ended questions about the manner in which they negotiated face during a conflict with either a best friend or a relative stranger. The responses of a sample of these respondents ‐16 Japanese, 16 members of ethnic minority groups in the U.S., and 20 European Americans — were categorized using a Q‐sort technique. Fourteen categories of facework behaviors were derived. Validation procedures for the typology were carried out via a cluster analysis resulting in 13 unique clusters: (a) aggression, (b) apologize, (c) avoid, (d) compromise, (e) consider the other, (f) defend self (g) express feelings, (h) give in, (i) involve a third party, (j) pretend, (k) private discussion, (l) remain calm, and (m) talk about the problem. In phase II, 95 Japanese and 61 U.S. Americans rated the appropriateness and effectiveness of behaviors from each of the categories. The findings illustrate that the typology captures a wide range of appropriateness and effectiveness rating which further demonstrates the validity of the typology.

Process and outcome constructs for evaluating community-based participatory research projects: a matrix of existing measures

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has been widely used in public health research in the last decade as an approach to develop culturally centered interventions and collaborative research processes in which communities are directly involved in the construction and implementation of these interventions and in other application of findings. Little is known, however, about CBPR pathways of change and how these academic-community collaborations may contribute to successful outcomes. A new health CBPR conceptual model (Wallerstein N, Oetzel JG, Duran B et al. CBPR: What predicts outcomes? In: Minkler M, Wallerstein N (eds). Communication Based Participatory Research, 2nd edn. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Co., 2008) suggests that relationships between four components: context, group dynamics, the extent of community-centeredness in intervention and/or research design and the impact of these participatory processes on CBPR system change and health outcomes. This article seeks to identify instruments and measures in a comprehensive literature review that relates to these distinct components of the CBPR model and to present them in an organized and indexed format for researcher use. Specifically, 258 articles were identified in a review of CBPR (and related) literature from 2002 to 2008. Based on this review and from recommendations of a national advisory board, 46 CBPR instruments were identified and each was reviewed and coded using the CBPR logic model. The 46 instruments yielded 224 individual measures of characteristics in the CBPR model. While this study does not investigate the quality of the instruments, it does provide information about reliability and validity for specific measures. Group dynamics proved to have the largest number of identified measures, while context and CBPR system and health outcomes had the least. Consistent with other summaries of instruments, such as Granner and Sharpes inventory (Granner ML, Sharpe PA. Evaluating community coalition characteristics and functioning: a summary of measurement tools. Health Educ Res 2004; 19: 514-32), validity and reliability information were often lacking, and one or both were only available for 65 of the 224 measures. This summary of measures provides a place to start for new and continuing partnerships seeking to evaluate their progress.

Culturally homogeneous and heterogeneous groups: explaining communication processes through individualism-collectivism and self-construal

Abstract The objective of the study was to test the position of the effective decision-making theory ( Oetzel et al., 1995 ) that process differences in culturally homogeneous and heterogeneous groups can be explained by group composition, cultural individualism–collectivism (I–C) and self-construal. Sixty-two Japanese and 86 European Americans participated in a decision-making activity in either a homogeneous or a heterogeneous group. The major findings are: (1) Heterogeneous groups are more likely to have unequal distribution of turns and to utilize majority decisions than homogeneous groups; (2) Homogeneous Japanese groups have fewer conflicts, use more co-operative conflict tactics, and fewer competitive conflict tactics than homogeneous European American groups; (3) Groups composed of members with high independent self-construals are more likely to use competitive tactics and less likely to use co-operative tactics than group composed of members with low independent self-construals; and (4) Groups composed of members with varying levels of independent or interdependent self-construals are more likely to have unequal distribution of turns than group composed of members with similar levels of independent or interdependent self-construals. Implications, future directions, and limitations are discussed.

Evaluating Community-Based Participatory Research to Improve Community-Partnered Science and Community Health

Background: Since 2007, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Policy Research Center (PRC) has partnered with the Universities of New Mexico and Washington to study the science of community-based participatory research (CBPR). Our goal is to identify facilitators and barriers to effective community-academic partnerships in American Indian and other communities, which face health disparities.Objectives: We have described herein the scientific design of our National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study (2009-2013) and lessons learned by having a strong community partner leading the research efforts.Methods: The research team is implementing a mixed-methods study involving a survey of principal investigators (PIs) and partners across the nation and in-depth case studies of CBPR projects.Results: We present preliminary findings on methods and measures for community-engaged research and eight lessons learned thus far regarding partnership evaluation, advisory councils, historical trust, research capacity development of community partner, advocacy, honoring each other, messaging, and funding.Conclusions: Study methodologies and lessons learned can help community-academic research partnerships translate research in communities.