Face Negotiation Theory

Face Negotiation Theory

Written by: Stella Ting-Toomey

Development of FNTFace - Negotiation Theory (FNT) was developed by Stella Ting-Toomey (1985), a communication professor at California State University, Fullerton“Face” according to sociologist Erving Goffman is “the positive social value of a person effectively

claims for her/himself by the line others assume s/he has taken during a particular contact.”

Theorist Background

Born in Hong Kong She move to the U.S. in the summer of 1972, to attend

the University of Iowa. She was attende at three U.S. universities

1. Iowa2. New Jersey3. Southern California

Professor at California State University at Fullerton (CSUF)

Mother to a biracial child.

What is Face Negotiation Theory?

Concept that deals with how different people and cultures place importance and value on identity and how conflict is handled by those within those cultures.

Idea of “face” as representative of the identity a person has and how the culture someone is in places importance on the individual and society.

Deals with how people gain “positive” or “negative” face, based on how others perceive them.

1. Culture

• Represent the two major differences between the Collectivist and Individualistic cultures.

• Three important differences between the two. i. Perceive one-selfii. Personal goalsiii. Duty

1. Two-thirds of the world’s are born into collectivist cultures, while just under

2. One-third of the world’s• population lives in the individualistic culture

Collectivistic Culture

Collectivistic A collectivist culture is a people tend to view themselves as

members of groups and usually consider the needs of the group to be more important than the needs of individuals

a) Familiesb) Work unitsc) Tribesd) Nations

Individualistic Culture

Freewheeling• our self-concern with individual rights, not group

responsibilities Moral stance

• Attitude or view point that helps you make a decision

2. Different Self-Images within culture

People within a culture differ on the relative importance they place on individual self-sufficiency or group solidarity

1. Interdependent2. Independent

Step to which people conceive of themselves as relatively independent from, or connected to others.

Interdependent Self-Image in Collectivistic Culture

Collectivism emphasizes the interdependence of every human being.

Political Religious Economic Social outlook

Interdependent self-construal define themselves in terms of their relationships with others.

Independent Self-Image in Individualistic Culture

Concept of self is prevalent within individualistic cultures

self-reliance autonomy competition personal control individual goals

Independent Self-Image in Individualistic Culture

Relational reality of self-image

Overlap shows that an Individual might have more interdependent than a person raised in Collectivistic with a relative high independent self-construal.

Face-work Every culture is always

negotiating face. FNT states that people

from individualistic, low context cultures interact differently from collectivistic, high context cultures.

High/Low Context Cultures

3. Face Concern

Individualistic Collectivistic

1. Self-Face Maintenance 1. Mutual-Face Maintenance

2. Other-Face Maintenance

Public self-image that every member of society wants to claim for himself/herself.

Differs depending on differences in cultural and individual identities.

Four Types of Face-work:Face-restoration - protecting your own autonomy

Face-saving - protecting the autonomy of another person Face-giving - protecting another's need for inclusion

Face-assertion - protecting your own need for inclusion

4. Conflict Management The ways which various

cultures view face and their individual role in face-work will determine the approach to conflict management.

FNT maintains that inter-cultural conflict can be reduced by recognizing, understanding, accepting, and adapting to the differences with another's culture.

Face MovementsObliging- accommodatingCompromising- bargaining

Avoiding- withdrawingIntegrating- problem-solving

Dominating- competing

Summary of FNT Communication in all cultures is based on maintaining and

negotiating face. Face is problematic when identities are questioned. Differences in individualistic vs. collectivistic and small vs. large

power distance cultures profoundly shape face management. Individualistic cultures prefer self oriented face-work, and

collectivistic cultures prefer other oriented face-work. Behavior is also influenced by cultural variances, individual,

relational, and situational factors. Competence in intercultural communication is a culmination of

knowledge and mindfulness.