CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Essay

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE - Essay Example wledge provided to human beings as a result of what they think is wrong, right and acceptable, to a large extent, plays a crucial role in determining how conflict is viewed by different people around the world. According to Fry, Conflict is a perceived feeling of a divergence in the interests of two or more people and groups, and how these people decide to act upon this threatening divergence- whether they act in a violent or non-violent way, or if they even view this conflict as something threatening- depends on the culture that these people have thrived in. Samovar and Porter (1995), point out that culture controls and defines the various circumstances and conditions under which different messages are and are not noticed and interpreted, and similarly, the way which a particular conflict is viewed, deciphered and ultimately handled has a lot to do with the individual culture that people, societies and groups have developed over a course of time. Different people and societies have varying attitudes towards how they react towards conflicts and Fry provides a variety of examples of Brazil’s Upper Xingu River Basin where a group of inter connected tribes have developed a system of harmony through which they avoid conflict and practice a peaceful existence together. The villagers adopt an attitude of tolerance through which problems are resolved mostly in a non-violent fashion and many issues are over-looked. Fry also gives the example of other groups of people such as the Tarojas of Indonesia who also use avoidance to indirectly deal with any issues that may arise between two families and the lack of confrontational activities which lead to minimization of violent contact. Other communities, such as the Jalà © of New Guinea may cease to speak with to each other when two or more parties are faced with pressing conflicts and altogether avoid being in the presence of one another so that violent confrontations are virtually non-existent. Apart from toleration and