Perspective-taking, attributions, and conflict resolution : evidence from high-fidelity intercultural simulations

In this study, I advance perspective-taking research in three important ways. First, I focus on perspective-taking accuracy, rather than perspective-taking trait or active perspective-taking, as an antecedent of integrative conflict resolution. Second, I examine the mediating role of isomorphic attr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Tan, Mei Ling
Other Authors: Ang Soon
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/65270
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author Tan, Mei Ling
author2 Ang Soon
author_facet Ang Soon
Tan, Mei Ling
author_sort Tan, Mei Ling
collection NTU
description In this study, I advance perspective-taking research in three important ways. First, I focus on perspective-taking accuracy, rather than perspective-taking trait or active perspective-taking, as an antecedent of integrative conflict resolution. Second, I examine the mediating role of isomorphic attributions in the relationship between perspective-taking accuracy and integrative conflict resolution. Third, I examine perspective-taking of multiple targets simultaneously, rather than of single targets, and do so by adopting a third-party observer’s view of conflicts that involve two parties. To reflect the nuances of perspective-taking effects and the complexities of attributional processing in situations that involve multiple targets, I conceptualize a new form of attributional bias – selective fixedness in attribution for conflict (SFAC; the fixedness on selected parties as the cause of conflict). I examine SFAC as a moderator in the relationship between perspective-taking accuracy and integrative conflict resolution mediated by isomorphic attribution for conflict (IAC). I tested the moderated mediation model in two studies. In Study 1, I tested the model using 408 sets of responses to high-fidelity intercultural simulations collected from 102 university seniors from 18 countries. Analyses using random coefficient modeling with crossed random effects demonstrate that IAC partially mediates the relationship between perspective-taking accuracy and integrative conflict resolution, and that this mediated relationship is significant only when a conflict is attributed to joint causes, and not when there is selective fixedness on a single party as the cause of the conflict. Study 2, based on 580 sets of responses to high-fidelity intercultural simulations collected from 145 employees of 37 different nationalities from an international industry organization, replicate the findings in Study 1. This study makes three key contributions to research on perspective-taking. First, this study shows that it is perspective-taking accuracy, rather than perspective-taking trait, that is more strongly associated with integrative conflict resolution. Second, this study supports theoretical arguments that IAC acts as a mediator in the relationship between perspective-taking accuracy and integrative conflict resolution. Third, this study demonstrates the importance of accounting for selective fixedness biases in attributional processing when examining the mediating role of isomorphic attributions in the relationship between perspective-taking accuracy and conflict resolution decisions in multiple-target contexts.
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spelling ntu-10356/652702024-01-12T10:23:37Z Perspective-taking, attributions, and conflict resolution : evidence from high-fidelity intercultural simulations Tan, Mei Ling Ang Soon Nanyang Business School Centre for Leadership and Cultural Intelligence DRNTU::Business::Management::Organizational behavior In this study, I advance perspective-taking research in three important ways. First, I focus on perspective-taking accuracy, rather than perspective-taking trait or active perspective-taking, as an antecedent of integrative conflict resolution. Second, I examine the mediating role of isomorphic attributions in the relationship between perspective-taking accuracy and integrative conflict resolution. Third, I examine perspective-taking of multiple targets simultaneously, rather than of single targets, and do so by adopting a third-party observer’s view of conflicts that involve two parties. To reflect the nuances of perspective-taking effects and the complexities of attributional processing in situations that involve multiple targets, I conceptualize a new form of attributional bias – selective fixedness in attribution for conflict (SFAC; the fixedness on selected parties as the cause of conflict). I examine SFAC as a moderator in the relationship between perspective-taking accuracy and integrative conflict resolution mediated by isomorphic attribution for conflict (IAC). I tested the moderated mediation model in two studies. In Study 1, I tested the model using 408 sets of responses to high-fidelity intercultural simulations collected from 102 university seniors from 18 countries. Analyses using random coefficient modeling with crossed random effects demonstrate that IAC partially mediates the relationship between perspective-taking accuracy and integrative conflict resolution, and that this mediated relationship is significant only when a conflict is attributed to joint causes, and not when there is selective fixedness on a single party as the cause of the conflict. Study 2, based on 580 sets of responses to high-fidelity intercultural simulations collected from 145 employees of 37 different nationalities from an international industry organization, replicate the findings in Study 1. This study makes three key contributions to research on perspective-taking. First, this study shows that it is perspective-taking accuracy, rather than perspective-taking trait, that is more strongly associated with integrative conflict resolution. Second, this study supports theoretical arguments that IAC acts as a mediator in the relationship between perspective-taking accuracy and integrative conflict resolution. Third, this study demonstrates the importance of accounting for selective fixedness biases in attributional processing when examining the mediating role of isomorphic attributions in the relationship between perspective-taking accuracy and conflict resolution decisions in multiple-target contexts. DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (NBS) 2015-06-23T04:28:17Z 2015-06-23T04:28:17Z 2015 2015 Thesis Tan, M. L. (2015). Perspective-taking, attributions, and conflict resolution : evidence from high-fidelity intercultural simulations. Doctoral thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/65270 10.32657/10356/65270 en 186 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle DRNTU::Business::Management::Organizational behavior
Tan, Mei Ling
Perspective-taking, attributions, and conflict resolution : evidence from high-fidelity intercultural simulations
title Perspective-taking, attributions, and conflict resolution : evidence from high-fidelity intercultural simulations
title_full Perspective-taking, attributions, and conflict resolution : evidence from high-fidelity intercultural simulations
title_fullStr Perspective-taking, attributions, and conflict resolution : evidence from high-fidelity intercultural simulations
title_full_unstemmed Perspective-taking, attributions, and conflict resolution : evidence from high-fidelity intercultural simulations
title_short Perspective-taking, attributions, and conflict resolution : evidence from high-fidelity intercultural simulations
title_sort perspective taking attributions and conflict resolution evidence from high fidelity intercultural simulations
topic DRNTU::Business::Management::Organizational behavior
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/65270
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