Critique: Confounded by Individual Differences
This critique is different from most other criticized theories because the critiques are the creators of the theory.
Ting-Toomey built her theory on the foundational idea that people from collectivist/high-context cultures are noticeably different in the way they manage face and conflict situations that do people from individualistic/low context cultures. In a dozen scholarly articles she has defended that basic conviction. Yet in two recent studies, Oetzel and Ting-Toomey discovered that "self-construal is a better predictor of conflict styles than ethnic/cultural background." Face-negotiation theory is "in progress" and Ting-Toomey writes that "more theorizing effort is needed to 'decategorize' the colossal concepts of 'individualism' and 'collectivism' ...into finer culture-level, explanatory-categories."
Currently, Ting-Toomey and Oetzel are directing a cross-cultural study that ranges over five countries on three continents to further explore the relationship between cultural variability and individual self-image. If found that self-construal is a necessary path then the distinction of collectivistic and individualistic cultures would still be important:
Type of Culture->Type of Self-Construal->Type of Face Maintenance->Type of Conflict Management
The sense of individual identity would be one step closer to the person's preferred style of dealing with conflict.
Ting-Toomey built her theory on the foundational idea that people from collectivist/high-context cultures are noticeably different in the way they manage face and conflict situations that do people from individualistic/low context cultures. In a dozen scholarly articles she has defended that basic conviction. Yet in two recent studies, Oetzel and Ting-Toomey discovered that "self-construal is a better predictor of conflict styles than ethnic/cultural background." Face-negotiation theory is "in progress" and Ting-Toomey writes that "more theorizing effort is needed to 'decategorize' the colossal concepts of 'individualism' and 'collectivism' ...into finer culture-level, explanatory-categories."
Currently, Ting-Toomey and Oetzel are directing a cross-cultural study that ranges over five countries on three continents to further explore the relationship between cultural variability and individual self-image. If found that self-construal is a necessary path then the distinction of collectivistic and individualistic cultures would still be important:
Type of Culture->Type of Self-Construal->Type of Face Maintenance->Type of Conflict Management
The sense of individual identity would be one step closer to the person's preferred style of dealing with conflict.
