Effects of cultural femininity on preference for methods of conflict processing: A cross-cultural study

The impact of cultural femininity on preference for methods of conflict processing was examined by studying college students from Canada and The Netherlands. These two countries were selected because the work of Hofstede (1980, Culture's consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage) on cultural dimensions stated that they are different in their cultural femininity, but similar along his other cultural dimensions. On the basis of Hofstede's analysis of cultural femininity, it was predicted and confirmed that Dutch subjects preferred harmony-enhancing procedures more, and confrontational procedures less, than did Canadian subjects. It was also found, quite unexpectedly, that Canadians were more likely to give in but less likely to ignore a dispute than were the Dutch. Furthermore, these cultural differences were related to perceived differences in the extent to which the various procedures were believed to facilitate (1) disputant process control and (2) animosity reduction. Implications of these findings for the development of a culture-general model of conflict processing are discussed.