Beyond surface harmony: Reflecting on Chinese social norms to foster new understandings and multicultural team unity

The rise of multicultural mission teams has made interpersonal conflict an increasing challenge and a leading cause of missionary attrition. This article presents the findings from qualitative research involving 31 Chinese Christians from 3 major cities and 13 churches, exploring the factors that influence reconciliation efforts. While the broader study identified multiple factors, this article highlights the impact of five specific social norms related to face preservation, hierarchical apology binds, and the moral nature of conflict. Drawing on the theoretical framework of normative expectations, the author illustrates how these cultural mechanisms often drive surface-level rather than heart-level reconciliation. However, surprising results occurred when participants chose to live according to a Kingdom-culture perspective instead of following existing cultural expectations. The article proposes a series of reflexive questions springboarding from the cultural bridges and barriers presented. These questions can be used to help multicultural teams foster new understandings, bring to light the cultural mechanisms that may impact their current team dynamics, and move toward greater multicultural team unity.