Face attributes in interviews with Iranian politicians

Abstract

This study examines face attributes in political interviews involving interviewers working for western broadcasting companies and Iranian politicians. The data consists of 10 hours of talk. The topic raised in the interviews is concerned with Iran’s human rights which have aroused concern and been the focus of international attention. Iranian politicians interviewed on global media are often questioned about Iran’s non-conformity with Human Rights Council. The study revealed that the interviewers ascribed the Iranian politicians with the negative attributes of lack of universalism, non-benevolence, lack of power, non-conformity, and lack of self-direction and the interviewees claimed the positive attributes of security, conformity, benevolence, universalism, self-direction, achievement and tradition to save or enhance their face. Also, the findings demonstrated that Iranian politicians tended to be more concerned with their collective face.