Face threats in Singapore Chinese culture.

• Main Author: Guo, Qin Xian.
• Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Social psychology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/42529
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The desire for face is fundamental in humans. This is evident from how it is constantly maintained, enhanced and attended during human interaction. The concept of face threats was first proposed in the west, reflecting its individualistic culture. So far, no study has examined the concept of face threat in Chinese culture. The collectivistic nature of Chinese provides reasons to believe that this concept might entail relational and social dimensions which are not found in the west. The study began with collecting descriptions of face and face threats through an in-depth interview with Singaporean Chinese youth recruited from the university’s population. From these expressions, various dimensions or constructs pertaining to Chinese face and face threats are formulated.