Role of emotions and behavioural responses in mediating the impact of face loss on relationship deterioration: Are Chinese more face‐sensitive than Americans?

Abstract

Face loss, defined as the deterioration in one's social image, has been regarded as a consequence of interpersonal conflict and a provocation for counter-attack. The present research was aimed at assessing whether the role of face loss in leading to relationship deterioration has more impact for Chinese than for Americans. We hypothesized that the linkage from face loss to relationship deterioration is mediated by two social-emotional complexes (anger and shame) and two behavioural reactions (retaliation and avoidance) arising from interpersonal harm. Structural equation modelling confirmed this mediation model, and indicated that in both cultures, the linkage between face loss and relationship disintegration was mediated by shame and avoidance, but not by anger and retaliation. Consistent with widely held hypotheses, face loss was found to be more influential in directly provoking a target's anger and relationship deterioration, and more influential in inhibiting a target's retaliating responses, for Hong Kong Chinese than for Americans.

Couple Relationship Standards and Migration: Comparing Hong Kong Chinese with Australian Chinese

“…Chinese couples are expected to be part of the extended family and separation of the couple from the family is much less demarcated than in Western culture (Shi & Wang, 2009). Family responsibilities include protecting one's own and others' face (social image; Cardon & Scott, 2003;Kam & Bond, 2008).…”

Seeking harmony in Chinese families: A dyadic analysis on Chinese parent‒child relations

“…When adopting disintegration avoidance in the family, adolescents and parents typically focus on conformity on the part of the child, and avoid direct confrontation without addressing the differences between one another. Both parties can save "mianzi" (face), which is an important consideration in a hierarchical relationship in the Chinese context (Kam & Bond, 2008). These results also suggest that disintegration avoidance may have been a widely accepted practice in parent-child interaction (Shek, 1998;W.…”

Business confidence in government regulators

“…Previous studies suggest that social face concerns are important for collectivist people in Asia (Cocroft and Ting-Toomey, 1994;Kam, and Bond, 2008;Liao and Bond, 2011;Leung and Cohen, 2011;Oetzel et al, 2008) and that they can inhibit the open-minded discussion of diverse views (Kirkbride et al, 1991;Tse et al, 1994). This inability to discuss conflicting ideas openly in turn prevents people understanding each other's position and developing collaborative relationship.…”