Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

6-2021

Abstract

While cultural difference on self-construal are well-documented, how acculturation to a new cultural environment could change an individual’s self-construal remains under-explored. In this research, how tertiary education disciplines could be associated with the endorsement of self-construals which, in turn, affect students’ conflict management tendencies were explored. Study 1 revealed that across the United States and Singapore, college students from business and social science disciplines exhibited the trend of endorsing more independent and interdependent self-construal respectively, regardless of the different dominant self-construals in the two countries. Study 2 explored how tertiary education disciplines is associated with individuals’ conflict management tendencies via the endorsement of different self-construals among Singaporeans. Findings showed that individuals from business discipline possess a more independent self-construal and in turn endorsed more of a competing conflict management style than those from social sciences. Different disciplinary cultures could link to conflict management tendencies via the endorsement of self-construals, yielding significant theoretical and practical implications.

Keywords

Self-Construal, Tertiary Education, Conflict Management Style, U.S., Singapore

Discipline

Asian Studies | Educational Psychology

Research Areas

Psychology

Publication

Frontiers in Psychology

Volume

12

First Page

1

Last Page

14

ISSN

1664-1078

Identifier

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.659301

Publisher

Frontiers Media

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.659301

Download

Share

COinS