PRDV211: Foundations of Human Communication

Face Negotiation Theory proposes the following:

• People in all cultures try to maintain and negotiate face in all communication situations
• Face is problematic when identities are questioned.
• Cultural, individual and situational variables influence the selection of one set of face concerns over another (ie: self-oriented vs other oriented face saving)
• Individualistic cultures prefer self oriented facework, and collectivistic cultures prefer other oriented facework.
• Small power distance cultures prefer an “individuals are equal” framework, whereas large power distance cultures prefer a hierarchical framework.
• Behavior is also influenced by cultural variances, individual, relational, and situational factors.
• Competence in intercultural communication is a culmination of knowledge and mindfulness. (Ting-Toomey, 2005)

Cultural Aspect

Face is a universal phenomenon. Everyone wants to be respected and needs a sense of self respect. How we manage strategies in maintaining, saving and honouring ones face differs across cultures. LOW versus HIGH communication framework was developed by Edward T. Hall his focus is on all communication process LOW communication framework centers around individual values and focuses on verbal communication Immigrant cultures such as Canada, US and Australia tend to exhibit LOW context communication styles. HIGH communication framework centers on group orientations and focuses on non verbal communication. Collective needs and goals context cultures have a longer history of their culture.Long standing historical cultures such as Japan, South Korea, China tend to exhibit HIGH context communication styles.

Communication Barriers

There are three ways which culture interferes with cross-cultural understanding. The most common barrier is cognitive constraint. Cognitive constraints are world views, based on culture, which provide a backdrop for comparing new information to. Second are behaviour constraints. Behaviour constraints are the ways in which people behave in different cultures. Each culture has its own rules about proper behaviour which affect verbal and nonverbal communication. Whether to engage in eye contact or how close you stand next to someone during a conversation, are considered rules of politeness that differ from culture to culture. The final factor, emotional constraints, pertain to the ways in which cultures regulate the display of emotion. Each culture has rules pertaining to how emotional you can be in a situation. While some cultures deem it appropriate to express their emotions openly, other cultures choose to keep their emotions hidden.

Key Terms

Face, Facework, Face-restoration, Face-saving, Face-giving,Face-assertion, Languaculture,
Mindful Intercultural Non Verbal Communication, LOW/HIGH Communication Framework

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Source: Jennifer Levine, Maryellen Elliott, Chera Marshall, Sultan Rana, and Lauren Wood

 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

References:

Cultural Barriers to Effective Communication http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/problem/cultrbar.htm

Cross Cultural Face Negotiation
http://www.cic.sfu.ca/forum/ting-too.html
Face Concerns in Interpersonal Conflict: A Cross-Cultural Empirical Test of the Face Negotiation
John G. Oetzel and Stella Ting-Toomey
Communication Research 2003; 30; 599 DOI: 10.1177/0093650203257841 http://crx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/30/6/599
http://bit.ly/9sT16R
www.mediate.com/articles/the_four_faces_of_face.cfm