The text describes how gender and culture typically affect the way an individual approaches

conflict. Reflect on your own conflict management style(s). To what extent do you think your
gender and culture explain your personal style? In what ways? Cite some specific examples.
What do you think are the greatest influences on how you’ve come to manage conflict in your
life?

Gender and culture definitely affect how we approach conflict. Men and women generally handle
conflict differently. Women are more collaborative and want to find win-win solutions whereas
men tend to be more win-lose. Cultures approach differently too. For example, collectivist
communities prefer to avoid conflict and individualistic cultures are more direct and will handle
conflict head on. But everyone tends to get emotional when it comes to conflict. It might be
different emotions - like some people get anxious, others get angry etc.

As an American man, I often approach a conflict like it is a problem to be solved and like it is a
competition to be won. I want to be able to fix things and forget about it in a matter of seconds. I
tend to respond abrasively in conflict situations. Obviously that is not a realistic way to view
complex issues but my brain wants to know how to get past it without having to worry about it so
that I can make sense of it all.

I get aggravated in conflict not only because of my gender, but also because it is just part of my
personality and somewhat due to my age. At 20 years old, I am not very experienced in
handling certain situations. So I can get frustrated and confused more easily when something
doesn’t go my way. Everyone at this stage would mostly feel the same way but depending on
the gender that can also play a role in handling conflict resolution. For example, people
associated with my gender tend to get angry whenever something happens to them. Versus
genders more aligned with the female sex tend to handle conflict from a broader and less tunnel
visioned point of view. They are looking for creative solutions that might work for all, not one. My
personality is kind of in the middle. I try to look at things from multiple perspectives but I also
can get tunnel-visioned when I don’t break a situation down and really think about it. This could
also relate to my culture as in a world where technology and life moves so fast these days I can
get caught up in so many different things and have myself wrapped in them without even
stopping to think about how something benefits me. But also coming from a somewhat Asian
background, those influences inspire me to not get ahead of myself too much and really break
down the reality of the situation. Then from there I can have a much better understanding on
how I should approach the conflict (depending on what it is) and how to move on from it. So in
that sense I almost have like a two sided personality in that regard. Overall to me conflict is
another part of life that we all are facing and some people have different challenges than others.
Not just the people who influenced me from before but also the friends, family, and all the others
that influence me today totally navigate how I approach these things and will continue to
navigate it going forward.