Interpersonal Communication- A Mindful Approach to Relationships, 2020a

What is Face?
The concept of
day talk today. According to Hsien Chin Hu, the concept of face stems from two distinct Chinese
words, lien and mien-tzu. Lien
character, the loss of which makes it impossible for him to function properly within the community.
On the
other hand, mien-tzu
Face is the respectability and/or deference which a person can claim for himself from others,
deference that each party expects from, and extends to, the other party.
spheres, including the workplace, the family, personal friends, and society at large.” For our
purposes, we can generally break face down into general categories: face gaining and face losing.
Face gaining refers to the strategies a person might use to build their reputation and feelings of
collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term vs. shortterm
orientation, and indulgence vs. restraint.
• Face is the standing or position a person has in the eyes of others. During an
interpersonal interaction, individuals strive to create a positive version of their face
for the other person.
•
Exercises
• Compare and contrast two countries and their levels of context. Why do you think
context is such an important cultural characteristic?
• Think about a co-cultural group that you belong to. Think through Geert
Hofstede’s six categories used to evaluate differing cultures and apply Hofstede’s
Interpersonal Communication 206