Face Negotiation Theory and Content Domains - Term Paper Example

David Zaremba Wilkins 13th December, Face Negotiation Theory and Content Domains “Face” is the social image one portrays to the others around them. One’s “face” is portrayed throughout every conversation one has on a daily basis. “Face” is portrayed differently by many different people. Each and every culture relies differently on “face.” There are also different aspects of “face,” which are referred to as the “Face Content Domains.” Face Content Domains refer to the different levels of facework, and the extent to which an individual may go to influence the opinion others have of them. There are six different domains in which individuals operate. These include Autonomy, which is one’s need to appear as a self sustaining human being. Inclusion, the individuals need to be regarded highly by others. Status, possibly include financial status. Reliability, as individuals yearn to appear to be trustworthy companions both in their business and personal life. Competence, an individual’s desire to appear intelligent and well versed in many curriculums. As well as Moral, this is a keyword for integrity. More often than not an individual might try to sacrifice one domain to appear stronger in another. For example, a person who has just started a new job may compromise their autonomy, as a way to bring themselves closer to a supervisor. More time spent learning a new position from a superior allows for more time to influence someone else’s opinion of one’s self, As opposed to appearing competent from the start, which may negatively influence one’s opinion. In our world, there are thousands of different cultures and each on has its own expectations for its people. The Chinese culture believes that on must fight to maintain their own individual “face.” Essentially implying that a “face” must be earned by an individual as it is not something that is easily attained. The Chinese also believe that one’s face is permanent and one cannot change others opinion of one’s self. English speaking Americans place a high regard on maintaining or saving one’s “face.” This encompasses avoiding being disgraced in the eyes of others. Americans place a high value on their personal reputation and having one’s shattered may cause irreversible damage. “Face” is also important in the business world. Almost everyone can be trusted until they give a reason not to be. For example, if you are an accountant, with the task of managing other people’s finances and you have a “face” changing moment; it could potentially end your career. Just goes to prove your “face” is important in all aspects of life. Describing “face” as one’s personal self image, is perhaps the greatest way to convey its importance. As discussed our “face” follows us throughout our entire life, and there is not one activity we can partake in that can change the way people view us. Even if one was to have a life revitalizing moment, it is impossible to change our reputation for the better, once it has been ruined by the worst. Faces Faces, as defined by Ting Toomey, are the various cultural adoptions, identities and facets of individual. In easier words, faces are considered as the public image of individual or group of individual which society sees and evaluates on the basis of norms and values of specific culture. Conflicts arise when the faces of individuals or groups of individual are threatening. In the past few decades different levels of theoretical models have been developed in order to understand the notion of face, facework and content domains. The cross-cultural dynamics and empirical work for the wide ranges of cultures and languages have highlighted the socio-cultural variations. Face Negotiation Theory The concept of Face Negotiation Theory was introduced by Ting Toomey in 1988. Face Negotiation Theory presumes that people from different culture possess some sort of representation of their cultures in their behavior while communicating and dealing with conflicts. This theory also proposes and argues the fact that why members from two different cultures tend to manage a specific conflict in a different manner. Ting Toomey affirms that people existing in different cultures, dealing with conflicting episodes are generally influenced by their face concerns and presentations. This theory has infused a spark of interest among researches dealing in inter cultural studies, sociolinguistic and pragmatic research. After the commencement of this concept, vast numbers of studies have been done in order to study the widespread dynamics of Japanese, American, Chinese and German culture. This theory is heuristic. The way Ting Toomey has presented her viewpoint regarding the face, face work, culture and conflicts makes its boundaries and scope more effective and clear. Face Contents Domain Facework refers to the actions taken in order to deal with a given facial threat. This is how people are consistent in their actions as it is somehow related to their facial traits. Facework, in easier words is referred to those communication skills which one uses to manage or uphold the faces. Face Content Domains refer to the different stages or levels that an individual engages in while performing face work. Face work and faces are part of our daily life. But the level and type of faces that an individual confronts is considered to be as the main purpose of Face Negotiation Theory. The following are the major assumptions of Face Negotiation Theory: 1. Face can become a problematic situation when questions are raised on identities. 2. Every type and every level of communication is taken place by negotiating and maintaining faces. 3. Weak context cultures consider the framework of “all individuals are equal” whereas strong context cultures have a preference for hierarchical framework. 4. Behavior of individuals is mainly influenced by relational, individual and situational factors. 5. Intercultural communication is result of mindfulness and knowledge about competence. 6. Discrepancies between small context culture and large context culture and collectivistic and individualistic culture intensely shape the management of faces. If broadly divided, face generally has two major types, positive faces and negative faces. Negative faces refer when both the parties limit the freedom of interference. Positive faces emphasize more towards respect, approval, appreciation and inclusion. Positive faces primarily includes types of facial traits like Reliability, Morality, Inclusion and Competence however Autonomy and Status are often considered as negative facial traits. These faces often take shape of cultures, norms, behaviors of individuals and beliefs of groups of people. Every society and group of individuals possesses some sort of culture. These cultures can be categorized as per the above mentioned faces. These faces are more comprehensively discussed in subsequent paragraphs. Autonomy Autonomy face refers to the more independent, controlled, self-sufficient, privacy, non-imposition and sovereign kind of consideration in case of face needs. Cultures that reflect autonomy as the major instinct presents a sense of dominance to the individuals or group of individuals of other cultures. People generally tend to get terrified by such faces and avoid dealing with such people who reveal dominant and autonomous attitudes. The major drawback of autonomous natures of cultures is that people do not feel comfortable or easy while managing with conflicts and communications. It becomes more drastic and adverse to cope up with conflicts arising with the people who do not listen or pay attention to other’s viewpoint which is the major trait of autonomous faces. Inclusion Individuals portraying facework as more towards pleasant, cooperative, friendly, likeable, worthy companions and agreeable are recognized as having inclusive face works. This is the most appreciable and cooperative of all the faces as it makes it easier to resolve and cope up immediately with conflicts arising among different cultural groups. Even in our daily life, we tend to get attracted and impressed by those people who have easy-going, likeable and friendly attitude. This is the strongest and most powerful of all the faces due to its mesmerizing, interesting and impressive style of dealing. Status Status refers to the needs of admiring the intangible or tangible resources or assets for instance, reputation, appearance, power, position, attractiveness and material worth. Cultures that depict these kinds of attributes are considered as more materialistic, acquisitive and worldly. These types of faces are considered as neither positive nor negative because they do not portray any such benefits or losses to the society. However, the selfishness that is embedded in these faces makes people of other cultures more reserve and tactful. This is the most wide spread faces of all. It can occur in any type of culture or country irrespective of the creed, background or religion. Status is often considered as an artificial nature of human being because it is embellished and decorated by imitations and artificial ornaments. Reliability Reliability refers to the face work of individuals who portray the needs for other as reliable, loyal, trustworthy, dependable, and consistent with their actions as well as words. This kind of faces are trusted, respected and honored by wide variety people irrespective of the society. This face also occurs randomly irrespective of the other factors because every individual has his own distinct personality. Like inclusion, reliability is also admired and appreciated by every culture and society as these characteristic appeals the human nature because of its rareness. Reliability is the most imperative components of human nature and every person some way or other seeks for the components of reliability in his/her partner or immediate relations. Therefore, it attracts impresses and magnetizes wide range of people. Reliability is the imperative asset of human nature which tends to attract and retain large groups of people. The most crucial advantage of reliability is that it helps the communicator during conflicts. If a person reflects reliability in his personality than people will admire that person even in the case of conflicts and disputes. Competence Need for others that reflect and recognize the attributes such as skills, team-building, leadership, conflict management, intelligence, expertise, networking and problem solving skills is called as Competence. These types of faces are generally found in organizations and large corporations. Managers, team leaders, entrepreneurs and businessman often possess these attributes in order to pursue organizational objectives. Competent people not only build and maintain their own capacity but also motivate their peers and subordinates. The ability of competency indicates the ability of a person to handle and deal with wide range of conflicts and situations. Each level of responsibility possess its own distinct requirements, competence can arise at any point of time during a person’s life or career. Moral Moral content of domain reflects the need for others to honor and respect dignity, integrity, morality and propriety. Moral obligations are predetermined in almost every religion, ethnicity and society. Every different society has its own values, norms and principles which shape the moral values for other cultures. During conflicts, morality often gets badly ruptured. Therefore, it is necessary to respect and give honor to the moral attitudes of other cultures, race and religion. During communication and conflicts, the level of maintaining morality should always be kept higher. Conclusion As the global village is becoming narrow and smaller day by day, the scope of future research under this theory is getting wide and intriguing. Face Negotiation Theory will keep on attracting and holding the attention of researchers particularly at this stage of global economy where distinct and diversified cultures are closely encountered for day to day activities. Ting Toomey has given us a glimpse and opportunity of getting aware on how to deal with people that come from different and diverse nature of cultures. Managing better communication, avoiding conflicts and understanding each other’s culture are the main attributes of this study. This study can be helpful in minimizing conflicts, reaching a particular and mutually accepted decision and taking the communications to the next level by improving and enhancing its quality. Faces narrow down the conflicts and acknowledge the bitter facts in a better way. References Ng, John. The four Faces of Face. Mediators and Everything Mediation. May. 2008. Web. 13 December. 2011. Toomey, Stella Ting. The Challenge of Facework: cross-cultural and interpersonal issues. United States of America: SUNY Press, 1994. Print. Read More