ABSTRACT
Conflict face-negotiation theory (FNT), as developed by Stella Ting-Toomey explains the culture-based, individual-based, and situational factors that shape communicators' tendencies in approaching and managing conflicts in diverse situations. This chapter explains the evolutionary journey of conflict FNT and highlights some of the key research findings along its 30 years of historical development. It identifies the core assumptions and key conditions of conflict FNT. The chapter summarizes essential FNT constructs and their associated cross-cultural conflict research patterns. Conflict FNT appears that when an individual's face image is being threatened in a conflict situation, they would likely experience identity-based frustrations, emotional vulnerability, anger, defensiveness, hurt and even feelings of vengeance. The overall findings in testing conflict FNT revealed that individualistic cultural members and independent self-construal types have more self-face concern and less other-face and mutual-face concern than collectivists and interdependent types. The chapter concludes the multiple pathways of testing the conflict FNT have been an emotionally exhilarating and intellectually rewarding journey.
