TY - JOUR
T1 - Preferences for third-party help in workplace conflict: A cross-cultural comparison of Chinese and Dutch employees
AU - Giebels, Ellen
AU - Yang, H.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - This study examines conflict parties’ preferences for different
types of third-party help and how this may be
influenced by cultural differences in terms of individualism/
collectivism. We focus our analysis on process-related
nonsubstantive help and identify three types of thirdparty
help in interpersonal conflict situations: relational
help, procedural help, and emotional help. In a pilot
study with Chinese and Dutch students (N = 93), we first
developed and validated three new scales to measure preferences
for the three types of third-party help. To further
test specific hypotheses we used another sample of Dutch
and Hong Kong Chinese bank employees (N = 71). In
line with our expectations, Chinese employees report a
higher preference for relational help, while Dutch
employees report a higher preference for emotional help.
In terms of procedural help, there was no significant difference
between Dutch and Chinese employees. Furthermore,
additional analyses revealed a gender effect on the
preference for emotional help, showing that—regardless
of their cultural background—females prefer this type of
third-party help more, presumably because they experience
more conflict stress.
AB - This study examines conflict parties’ preferences for different
types of third-party help and how this may be
influenced by cultural differences in terms of individualism/
collectivism. We focus our analysis on process-related
nonsubstantive help and identify three types of thirdparty
help in interpersonal conflict situations: relational
help, procedural help, and emotional help. In a pilot
study with Chinese and Dutch students (N = 93), we first
developed and validated three new scales to measure preferences
for the three types of third-party help. To further
test specific hypotheses we used another sample of Dutch
and Hong Kong Chinese bank employees (N = 71). In
line with our expectations, Chinese employees report a
higher preference for relational help, while Dutch
employees report a higher preference for emotional help.
In terms of procedural help, there was no significant difference
between Dutch and Chinese employees. Furthermore,
additional analyses revealed a gender effect on the
preference for emotional help, showing that—regardless
of their cultural background—females prefer this type of
third-party help more, presumably because they experience
more conflict stress.
KW - IR-68569
KW - METIS-258569
U2 - 10.1111/j.1750-4716.2009.00044.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1750-4716.2009.00044.x
M3 - Article
VL - 2
SP - 344
EP - 362
JO - Negotiation and conflict management research
JF - Negotiation and conflict management research
SN - 1750-4716
IS - 4
ER -