Research on dynamic models of the effect of culture on collaboration and negotiation.

This project, funded as a Multiple University Research Initiative (MURI) through the US Army Research Institute (ARI), will develop basic theory to better understand constructive negotiation and collaboration processes in Middle Eastern cultures. Our project will examine how characteristics of the rules of engagement in conflict situations (number and type of rules) may be used to measure the complexity of cultural norms regarding conflict, and how this in turn may help predict the tendencies to employ constructive and destructive processes in conflict situations.
Our work on this project will proceed in four phases. In phase one, literature from diverse disciplines will be searched and probed for concepts and models that provide insights into basic conflict rules and decision-making processes in conflicts across cultures. In phase two, a more specified theoretical model will be developed to describe the nature and influence of these rules systems on social interactions and outcomes of conflicts. This phase may involve qualitative research (interviews and focus groups) with individuals from different cultural contexts. This could involve the generation of decision-making trees with participants. In phase three, experiments will be conducted where we manipulate the number and type of rules involved in situations, to test and refine the model. Finally, in phase four, we will generate a dynamical-minimal (mathematical) model of rule-complexity in conflict, to visualize and explore its potential emergent qualities.