The Relationship between Mental Distress, Assessed in Terms of Anxiety and Depression, and Conflict Management in the Context of Cultural Adaptation

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between mental distress, measured in terms of the levels of anxiety and depression, and the preferences for various face concerns and conflict management styles. Two hundred and ninety respondents, comprising primarily of international students, participated in the study. The results revealed that the level of anxiety positively predicted the preferences for self-face concern and the avoiding conflict style and negatively predicted the preferences for mutual-face concern and the integrating conflict style. Similarly, the level of depression positively predicted the preference for the avoiding conflict style, approached significance in the positive direction in predicting the preference for self-face concern, and negatively predicted the preferences for mutual-face concern and the integrating conflict style. The results raise questions about the likelihood of individuals, under conditions of mental distress, actively engaging in the management of conflict and displaying behaviors that integrate concerns of self and the other.