Facework

Facework refers to a technique, utilized in study of interpersonal communication, that considers the ideas of an individual’s identity in a social world and how that identity is created, reinforced, diminished, and maintained in communicative interactions.

History

Early mentions of face and facework occur in two concepts identified by Hsien Chin Hu. "Lien" is the respect of the group for an individual with a good moral reputation; an individual who will fulfill their moral obligations regardless of the hardships involved, who under all circumstances shows him/herself to be a decent human being (Hu, 1944).

It is also seen as a reference to how others see an individual’s basic moral constitution. "Mien-tzu" stands for the kind of prestige…a reputation achieved through getting on in life, through success and ostentation. This prestige is accumulated by means of personal effort and is dependent at all times on external environment (Hu, 1944). It is also seen as a reference to how others see the value that an individual has in a community and how it can be constructed and increased through social interaction and achievements.

Adaptations

These concepts of face were further adapted in Erving Goffman's article "On Face-work: An Analysis of Ritual Elements of Social Interaction", first published in 1955 and reprinted in the 1967 book "Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior". Here face is defined as "the positive social value a person effectively claims for himself by the line others assume he has taken during a particular contact" (Goffman 1955, p. 213).

Politeness Theory

This definition is broken down further by Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson (1987) in their politeness theory which holds two aspects of face. "Positive face" refers to an individual’s need for social approval, connection, and inclusion, and "negative face" refers to an individual's need for autonomy and independence that allows an individual to be free of impediments in social interactions (Miller, 2005).

Tae-Seop Lim and John Waite Bowers (1991) claim that face is the public image that a person claims for himself. Within this claim there are three dimensions. "Autonomy face" describes a desire to appear independent, in control, and responsible. "Fellowship face" describes a desire to seem cooperative, accepted, and loved. "Competence face" describes a desire to appear intelligent, accomplished, and capable (Miller, 2005).

Facework

Facework is the process by which threats to an individual’s face are managed and maintained during social interactions and can be used in a preventive way so that the occurrence of threats can be minimized before the threats are issued. Facework can also be corrective in instances where an individual who has lost face in some social interaction can find ways of restoring their former status within interactions that are self corrective or by others' interactions.

In a published article on facework behaviors in conflicts with best friends and relative strangers, facework is referred to as "the communicative strategies one uses to enact self-face and to uphold, support, or challenge another person's face" (Masumoto, Oetzel, Takai, Ting-Toomey, & Yokochi, 2000).

Applications

The application of face and facework theory is indispensable in everyday life as well as in business both foreign and domestic. As an example, research is continuously being conducted in an effort to better understand the many facets of Chinese and American business relationships.

Seeing as the concept of face is so vastly different between the two cultures: Chinese being a more collective society and America being an individualist society, the ideas about relationships and face as well as those of facework involving business partners are always imperative topics when dealing with foreign business policy.

It is through the understanding of other cultures' ideas of face that successful business trade and productive business relationships can be achieved. Examples of facework theory in everyday life come to fruition in the research surrounding individual personality preferences and the utilization of those traits in conflict interaction and management.

References

*Goffman, Erving (1955). On Face-work: An Analysis of Ritual Elements of Social Interaction." Psychiatry: Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes. 18(3), 213-231.
*Goffman, Erving (1967) Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior. Random House, Inc.
*Hu, Hsien Chin (1944). The Chinese Concept of "Face". American Anthropologist, 46(1), 45-64.
*Lim, T.S., & Bowers, J.W. (1991). Facework: Solidarity, approbation, and tact. Human Communication Research, 17, 415-450.
*Masumoto, Tomoko, Oetzel, John G., Takai, Jiro, Ting-Toomey, Stella, & Yokochi, Yumiko (2000). A Typology of Facework Behaviors in Conflicts with Best Friends and Relative Strangers. Communication Quarterly, 4(48), 397+.
*Miller, Katherine (2005). Communication Theories: Perspectives, Processes, and Contexts (2nd ed.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.