Interracial / Intercultural Communication Interracial Essay

This can help increase the tolerance and cultural awareness of future generations, which is always a positive benefit for a more progressive society.

Different types of conflict styles can also impact how individuals fair within the context of an intercultural or interracial relationship. The way many cultures handle how they deal with conflict differ dramatically from other cultures. As a result, when two individuals from different cultures come together, they may often find that they have conflict because of how each party handles conflict. An indirect conflict style is one which tends to shy away from confrontation. Many cultures utilize such conflict management styles as a way to stay neutral and not dive into a conflict that would be emotionally exhausting. For example, many Asian cultures tend to exhibit very indirect conflict management styles. Yet, these can often be misinterpreted as being indifferent, where the individual is mistakenly thought to simply not care about whatever the conflict may be about.On the other hand, there is an emotionally expressive style of managing conflict, which is in direct contrast to the indirect style. In emotionally expressive styles, individuals are allowed to express their emotions in overt mannerisms and behaviors. Displays of emotions are acceptable within debates or arguments. However, these can often be misinterpreted as being way too over the top and dramatic, as such individuals would rather handle conflict in a more restrained manner. Seeing the extreme differences between such styles helps explain a lot of potential conflict that could be occurring within intercultural relationships, and is thus a sign to watch out for such couples who are trying to avoid misinterpretations based on cultural differences.

References

Martin, J. & Nakyama, T. (2011). Experiencing intercultural communication: An introduction. (4th ed.). McGraw Hill Publishing. ISBN: 0-07-340668-6

Orbe, M. & Harris, T. (2008). Interracial communication: Theory into practice (2nd ed.). Sage Publishing. ISBN: 1-4129-5458-4.....