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Table 1.3 Individualist (LCC) and Collectivist (HCC) Communicative
Behaviour
Individualism Collectivism
Emphasis on "I" identity Emphasis on "We" identity
Self-face concern
Need for autonomy,
Other-face concern
Need for inclusion, association
disassociation (neg. face (pos. face need)
need)
Self-oriented facework Other-oriented facework
Direct speech style
Controlling / confrontational
style
Competitive strategies
Direct emotional expression
Indirect speech style
Obliging / avoidance style
Integrative strategies
Indirect emotional expression
Derived from Ting-Toomey (1988,230)
Although useful in helping us to 'classify' various cultures - largely
emphasising and reinforcing East-West differences - the real conceptual
ramifications for understanding facework as an interpersonal practice are those
concerning the status of the individual, or more specifically, the
conceptualisation and status of 'self
Several cross-cultural studies have noted that a true understanding of
face and facework practices can only be achieved if one takes into account the
nature and status of the self. The concept used in cross-cultural reading s of
selfhood is somewhat different to the concept as employed in the work of
Goffman (1967) or sociological literature in general. It is however one which is,
albeit of a different conceptual provenance, essential to the understanding of
facework as universal practice.
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