Teachers’ multicultural personality traits as predictors of intercultural conflict management styles: Evidence from five European countries

This study explored the influence of five multicultural personality traits (i.e., Cultural Empathy, Open-Mindedness, Social Initiative, Emotional Stability, Flexibility) in predicting management styles (i.e., Integrating, Obliging, Compromising, Dominating, Avoiding) adopted by teachers from five European countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain) to deal with intercultural conflict that may arise within classes with and between students. Potential differences according to socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., Gender, Age, Working Seniority, Country of belonging) were also examined. Data from 589 secondary school teachers indicated that teachers who were more open-minded reported greater adoption of Integrating and Obliging styles when managing intercultural conflicts with and between students; while teachers who were less culturally empathic and flexible were more likely to adopt the Dominating style, and those who possess lower social initiative and flexibility were more likely to adopt the Avoiding style. Teachers who possess lower levels of emotional stability showed greater adoption of the Obliging style. Differences across socio-demographic characteristics were also found. Findings provided evidence to develop interventions aiming to foster effectiveness in classroom management of intercultural conflicts by underlining how multicultural personality may influence teachers’ ways to act and adjust to the educational demands of the increasingly multicultural school environment.