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How different cultures resolve conflict
Grossmann et al. use evidence to show how cultures differ in the ways they approach social conflict and how culture continues to be an important factor in human development even into old age. Specifically, the paper examines aging-related differences in wise reasoning among the American and Japanese cultures. Participant responses revealed that wisdom (e.g., recognition of multiple perspectives, the limits of personal knowledge, and the importance of compromise) increased with age among Americans, but older age was not directly associated with wiser responses amongst the Japanese participants. Furthermore, younger and middle-aged Japanese participants illustrated higher scores than Americans for resolving group conflicts. Grossmann et al. found that Americans emphasize individuality and solve conflict in a direct manner, while the Japanese place an emphasis on social cohesion and settle conflict more indirectly. In conclusion, the Japanese, who are motivated to maintain interpersonal harmony and avoid conflict, resolve conflict better and are wiser earlier in their lives, while Americans experience conflict gradually over time, which results in continuous learning about how to solve conflict and increased wisdom in their later years. These findings support the idea that conflict is dealt with and resolved differently across cultures.