Keywords:
international students
facework strategies
cultural values
institutional support

  • Abstract

    With the growing internationalization of higher education, the cultural diversity of university environments has grown, as has the number of intercultural conflicts among students. This study is a systematic review of conflict management strategies employed during intercultural interactions in higher education and explores the influences on the selection of these strategies. Following the PRISMA statement, the review conducted a search in Scopus and Web of Science, the main databases, and identified 20 relevant studies for thematic synthesis. The results indicate that students use the methods of conflict management which are an avoidance, obliged, integrating, compromising, mediation, and domination. These strategies tend to be used in clusters and are not necessarily mutually exclusive, suggesting that intercultural conflict management in higher education is informed by flexible and context-sensitive relationships of interaction. The review also shows that there are 5 key factors that affect the selection of strategies, which are related to individual, cultural value, institutional, contextual, and face-related factors. Of these, face-related characteristics have been more recently studied because they have shown how identity, dignity, relational harmony and perceived group image affects student reactions to disagreement. It is also found that the existing studies are largely based on self-reported designs in surveys and fewer studies consider the natural occurrence of intercultural encounters, classroom negotiations, group work, or internet communicative situations. These patterns of methods restrict the ability to understand the verbal and non-verbal processes by which the students deal with intercultural conflict in real educational situations. Finally, the study recommends future research to use more interaction-based approaches and to look into the effects of classroom practices, institutional support and structured intercultural training on students' conflict management competence in higher education.

  • References

    1. Ahmed, A. H., Hamed, O. A. O., & Gocheva, S. (2020). Intercultural Conflict and Experiences of International Students in Turkey. Open Education Studies, 2(1), 202–213. https://doi.org/10.1515/edu-2020-0120
    2. Andrade, M. S. (2006). International students in English-speaking universities: Adjustment factors. Journal of Research in International Education, 5(2), 131–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475240906065589
    3. Awalluddin, M. A., & Maznorbalia, A. S. (2023). A systematic literature review of the preferred organizational conflict management styles in Malaysia. Environment and Social Psychology, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.54517/esp.v8i2.1597
    4. Batkhina, A. (2020). Values and communication apprehension as antecedents of conflict styles in intercultural conflicts: A study in Germany and Russia. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 26(1), 22–34. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000429
    5. Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual matters. https://www.google.com/books?hl=zh-CN&lr=&id=S6MJEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT11&dq=%09%E2%80%A2%09Byram,+M.+(1997).+Teaching+and+Assessing+Intercultural+Communicative+Competence.&ots=ki9-XdePGq&sig=ymfJmu8tEneSt91DUFGdFQ8rRkk
    6. Chang-Tik, C. (2023). Collaborative spaces: Investigating the relationships between students’ group-based learning and lecturers’ approaches. Educational Research, 65(4), 409–427. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2023.2256747
    7. Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches (2nd ed). Sage Publications.
    8. DeJaeghere, J. G., & Cao, Y. (2009). Developing U.S. teachers’ intercultural competence: Does professional development matter? International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 33(5), 437–447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2009.06.004
    9. Dolzhikova, A., Kurilenko, V., Biryukova, Y., Baryshnikova, E., Shcherbakova, O., & Glazova, O. (2021). Why did they keep silent? Some peculiarities of intercultural academic communication. Intercultural Education, 32(1), 83–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2020.1845043
    10. Gacel-Ávila, J. (2005). The Internationalisation of Higher Education: A Paradigm for Global Citizenry. Journal of Studies in International Education, 9(2), 121–136. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315304263795
    11. García-Gómez, A. (2020). Intercultural and interpersonal communication failures: Analyzing hostile interactions among British and Spanish university students on WhatsApp. Intercultural Pragmatics, 17(1), 27–51. https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2020-0002
    12. Gareis, E. (2012). Intercultural Friendship: Effects of Home and Host Region. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 5(4), 309–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2012.691525
    13. Golubeva, I. (2023). Raising Students’ Self-Awareness of Their Conflict Communication Styles: Insights from an Intercultural Telecollaboration Project. Societies, 13(10), 223. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13100223
    14. Gu, Q., Schweisfurth, M., & Day, C. (2010). Learning and growing in a ‘foreign’ context: Intercultural experiences of international students. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 40(1), 7–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057920903115983
    15. Guan, X., & Lee, H. E. (2017). Fight and flight: A multilevel analysis of facework strategies in intercultural face-threatening acts. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 58, 69–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2017.04.008
    16. Gunesch, K. (2004). Education for cosmopolitanism: Cosmopolitanism as a personal cultural identity model for and within international education. Journal of Research in International Education, 3(3), 251–275. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475240904047355
    17. Gunkel, M., Schlaegel, C., & Taras, V. (2016). Cultural values, emotional intelligence, and conflict handling styles: A global study. Journal of World Business, 51(4), 568–585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2016.02.001
    18. Hail, H. C. (2015). Patriotism Abroad: Overseas Chinese Students’ Encounters With Criticisms of China. Journal of Studies in International Education, 19(4), 311–326. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315314567175
    19. Hample, D., Carretero, F., & Suro, J. (2021). Arguing in Mexico: How uniquely mexican is it? Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 50, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/17475759.2021.1910066
    20. Han, C., & Tong, Y. (2021). Students At The Nexus Between The Chinese Diaspora And Internationalisation Of Higher Education: The Role Of Overseas Students In China’S Strategy Of Soft Power. British Journal of Educational Studies, 69(5), 579–598. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2021.1935446
    21. Hou, M. (2023). Face and Identity in Intercultural Conflict Management. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 88–96. https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v23i2.55
    22. Huang, Q. (2014). Facework strategies in EFL classroom. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 5(1), 175. https://doi.org/10.4304/jltr.5.1.175-182
    23. Kilmann, R. H., & Thomas, K. W. (1975). Interpersonal conflict-handling behavior as reflections of jungian personality dimensions. Psychological Reports, 37(3), 971–980. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1975.37.3.971
    24. Knapp, A. (2011). Using English as a lingua franca for (mis-)managing conflict in an international university context: An example from a course in engineering. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(4), 978–990. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.08.008
    25. Labben, A. (2018). Face and identity in interaction: A focus on Tunisian Arabic. Journal of Pragmatics, 128, 67–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2018.02.004
    26. Labben, A. (2022). “As Tunisian I feel ashamed by this disgusting presenter”: Collective face threat and identity positioning on Facebook. Discourse, Context & Media, 48, 100619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2022.100619
    27. Leung, K., Brew, F. P., Zhang, Z.-X., & Zhang, Y. (2010). Harmony and conflict: A cross-cultural investigation in China and Australia. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 42(5). https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022110363474
    28. Lim, L. (2009). The influences of harmony motives and implicit beliefs on conflict styles of the collectivist. International Journal of Psychology, 44(6). https://doi.org/10.1080/00207590802512765
    29. Lin, S. E., Tan, D. Y. C., & Chang, K. L. (2022). Facework strategies and intercultural conflict management procedures between international undergraduates and Malaysian instructors at a private university. Issues in Language Studies, 11(2), 20–36. https://doi.org/10.33736/ils.4162.2022
    30. Lü, P.-H. (2018). When different “codes” meet: Communication styles and conflict in intercultural academic meetings. Language & Communication, 61, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2017.10.001
    31. Ma, Z., Erkuş, A., & Tabak, A. (2010). Explore the impact of collectivism on conflict management styles: A turkish study. International Journal of Conflict Management, 21(2). https://doi.org/10.1108/10444061011037396
    32. Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2010). Intercultural communication in contexts (5th ed). McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
    33. Martín-Martín, A., Orduna-Malea, E., Thelwall, M., & Delgado López-Cózar, E. (2018). Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus: A systematic comparison of citations in 252 subject categories. Journal of Informetrics, 12(4), 1160–1177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2018.09.002
    34. Mehellou, A., Ramdani, A., & Adetunji, R. R. (2019). The Role of Face Concerns and Facework in Managing Communication Conflict among Arabs and Malaysians. International Journal of Innovation, 10(8).
    35. Merkin, R. (2012). Middle Eastern Impression-Management Communication. Cross-Cultural Research, 46(2), 109–132. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069397111424867
    36. Meyers, S. A. (2003). Strategies to Prevent and Reduce Conflict in College Classrooms. College Teaching, 51(3), 94–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567550309596419
    37. Mohamed Shaffril, H. A., Ahmad, N., Samsuddin, S. F., Samah, A. A., & Hamdan, M. E. (2020). Systematic literature review on adaptation towards climate change impacts among indigenous people in the Asia Pacific regions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 258, 120595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120595
    38. Mohammed, S., Nasidi, Q. Y., Muhammed, M. U., Umar, M. M., & Hassan, I. (2023). Perceived correlation between communication styles and interpersonal conflict resolution among international students in Malaysia. Journal of Nusantara Studies (JONUS), 8(2), 354–374. https://doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol8iss2pp354-374
    39. Nakata, A., Vuopala, E., & Weinberger, A. (2025). Conflict experiences and management strategies in intercultural collaborative learning. Research in Comparative and International Education, 20(2), 291–313. https://doi.org/10.1177/17454999251329258
    40. Nishikawa-Pacher, A. (2022). Research Questions with PICO: A Universal Mnemonic. Publications, 10(3), 21. https://doi.org/10.3390/publications10030021
    41. Oetzel, J. G., & Ting-Toomey, S. (2003). Face Concerns in Interpersonal Conflict: A Cross-Cultural Empirical Test of the Face Negotiation Theory. Communication Research, 30(6), 599–624. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650203257841
    42. Oetzel, J., Garcia, A. J., & Ting‐Toomey, S. (2008). An analysis of the relationships among face concerns and facework behaviors in perceived conflict situations: A four‐culture investigation. International Journal of Conflict Management, 19(4), 382–403. https://doi.org/10.1108/10444060810909310
    43. Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., … Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
    44. Palmer, B. M. W. (2015). Understanding cultural conflict in EFL classrooms in the UAE. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 77–95. https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.460624
    45. Peters, M. D. J., Marnie, C., Colquhoun, H., Garritty, C. M., Hempel, S., Horsley, T., Langlois, E. V., Lillie, E., O’Brien, K. K., Tunçalp, Ӧzge, Wilson, M. G., Zarin, W., & Tricco, A. C. (2021). Scoping reviews: Reinforcing and advancing the methodology and application. Systematic Reviews, 10(1), 263. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-021-01821-3
    46. Rubenfeld, S., & Clément, R. (2012). Intercultural Conflict and Mediation: An Intergroup Perspective. Language Learning, 62(4), 1205–1230. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2012.00723.x
    47. Shell, G. R. (2018). Bargaining for advantage: Negotiation strategies for reasonable people. Penguin Publishing Group.
    48. Sindiani, M., Hellerstein, D., Sky, B., Ben Zaken, S., & Arnon, M. (2024). Subtle yet encouraging developments: Exploring intergroup relations between Arab and Jewish college students over seven years. Frontiers in Education, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1403926
    49. Smolyaninova, O. G., Ivanov, N. A., & Podusova, N. S. (2021). Humanitarization of university training by means of mediation: Problem statement. Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 14(9), 1308–1321. https://doi.org/10.17516/1997-1370-0821
    50. Sung, C. C. M. (2022). Identity Conflicts and Negotiations: Narratives of Asian International Students’ Experiences in Hong Kong. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 43(5), 639–656. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2022.2063818
    51. Taguchi, N. (2023). Using immersive virtual reality for the assessment of intercultural conflict mediation. Language Learning & Technology, 27(3), 108–128.
    52. Ting-Toomey, S. (1988). Intercultural Conflict: A Face-negotiation Theory. In Theories in Intercultural Communication (Vol. 12). SAGE Publications, Inc.
    53. Ting-Toomey, S. (2005). The matrix of face: An updated face-negotiation theory. In Theorizing About Intercultural Communication (pp. 71–92). Thousand Oaks.
    54. Ting‐Toomey, S. (2013). Face‐negotiation conflict theory. In K. D. Keith (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Cross‐cultural Psychology (1st ed., pp. 535–539). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118339893.wbeccp217
    55. Ting-Toomey, S., & Oetzel, J. (2001). Managing Intercultural Conflict Effectively. SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452229485
    56. To, A. T., Tran, T. S., Nguyen, K. O., Hoang, V. T., & Thai, K. P. (2021). Applying conflict management styles to resolve task conflict and enhance team innovation. Emerging Science Journal, 5(5), 667–677. https://doi.org/10.28991/esj-2021-01303
    57. Tricco, A. C., Lillie, E., Zarin, W., O’Brien, K. K., Colquhoun, H., Levac, D., Moher, D., Peters, M. D. J., Horsley, T., Weeks, L., Hempel, S., Akl, E. A., Chang, C., McGowan, J., Stewart, L., Hartling, L., Aldcroft, A., Wilson, M. G., Garritty, C., … Straus, S. E. (2018). PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and explanation. Annals of Internal Medicine, 169(7), 467–473. https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-0850
    58. Yu, Y., & Moskal, M. (2018). Missing intercultural engagements in the university experiences of Chinese international students in the UK. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2018.1448259
    59. Zhai, Y., Xu, H., Wang, L., & Lu, S. (2025). Who feels hostile? National identity and attitudes toward japan in China. 0–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096251369526
    60. Zhao, Z.-J., Chen, H.-H., & Li, K. W. (2020). Management of Interpersonal Conflict in Negotiation with Chinese: A Perceived Face Threat Perspective. Group Decision and Negotiation, 29(1), 75–102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-019-09645-2
    61. Zhu, Y., & Bresnahan, M. J. (2025). Chinese international students’ facework and collective face concerns in response to group criticism. Communication Quarterly, 73(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2024.2420989
    62. Zidjaly, N. A. (2019). Divine impoliteness: How Arabs negotiate Islamic moral order on Twitter. Russian Journal of Linguistics, 23(4), 1039–1064. https://doi.org/10.22363/2687-0088-2019-23-4-1039-1064
Creative Commons License

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

How to cite

Liu, X., Shaari, A. H., & Ng, L. S. (2026). Intercultural conflict management in higher education: A systematic literature review. Multidisciplinary Reviews, (| Accepted Articles). Retrieved from https://malque.pub/ojs/index.php/mr/article/view/18325
  • Article viewed - 30