CULTURAL VARIATIONS AND ENDORSEMENT OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES AMONG TEACHER, TEACHER CANDIDATES AND STUDENTS

Dr.Cem Safak Cukur
Saadet Kuru
Mugla University

Abstract

This study had two main purposes. The first was to examine differences and similarities in endorsement of conflict resolution strategies among teachers, teacher candidates (students in the College of Education) and high school students. The second was to investigate whether the culture based self-construal differences among participants are related to their endorsement of different conflict resolution strategies. For these purposes, a total of 700 participants (170 teachers, 265 high school students, and 265 students in the College of Education) completed measures of self-construal and conflict resolution strategy scales. Results of the ANOVAs indicate that teachers were more likely to use problem solving and less likely to use dominating styles of conflict resolution when compared to high school students and teacher candidates. Compared to teacher candidates, high school students more frequently preferred to use avoidance and obliging. There were also culture-based self-construal differences among participants. Teachers and teacher candidates manifested higher levels of group orientation than high school students did. On the other hand, high school and teacher candidates manifested higher levels of individualistic orientation than teachers did. While teachers manifested the highest levels of independent acting orientations, high school students did the lowest levels of this self-construal dimension. Teacher candidates’ scores were between those groups. Moreover, a series of hierarchical regression analyses provided that culture-based self-construal differences were related to both general preferences of conflict resolution strategies, and differences in endorsement of conflict resolution strategies among participants.

Keywords

Conflict resolution, self-construal, culture, education.