Face-Negotiation Theory Of Stella Ting-Toomey

By:Tony Cooke


The essay that I chose to read for my research on the face-negotiation theory is titled "Mental Symptoms and Public Order," By Erving Goffman. This essay is about the way people act in society and what is deemed acceptable behavior in a public setting. Goffman says that, " What psychiatrists see as mental illness, the lay public usually first sees as offensive behavior-behavior worthy of scorn, hostility and other negative social sanctions." This essay goes on to discuss different behaviors and the reactions of the public. Whether or not the behaviors relate positively to the society or negative to the society and the theory or reasoning behind it.

The first excerpt, which I found sort of interesting, is that Freudian psychiatrists say that "The final triumph of this psychological, technical perspective is the implication that socially improper behavior can be psychologically normal." For example if you blow up at a loved one at a restaurant when you find out that they betrayed you, that is socially unacceptable behavior but the act in it's self is totally psychologically normal. I totally agree with this theory because there have been times in my life where I have done socially unacceptable acts but at the same time I was psychologically normal. There are times when blowing up and being angry are acceptable. It becomes unacceptable when you do these things for no reason. Sometimes you can't help it sometimes it is perfectly normal to be socially unacceptable.

The next piece of this essay that I would like to speak on is about face-to-face interaction. Goffman says, "Much psychotic behavior is, in the first instance, a failure to abide by rules established for the conduct of face-to-face interaction-rules established, that is, or at least enforced, by some evaluating, judging, or policing group. Psychotic behavior is , in many instances, what might be called a situational impropriety." by this Goffman means that, at first a lot of psychotic behavior is a failure to follow the rules of society, the failure to act in a civil manner in face-to-face interactions. Also he is saying that psychotic behavior is sometimes viewed as situational, it depends on the situation and the actions of a person. One minute an individual could be acting in a manner in which society would label them psychotic and the next instant they could be behaving in a manner in which society would deem them quite sane. I agree with this also because it is often times hard to act civil all the time. So sometimes a person becomes angry and does something they shouldn't and people label them psychotic but that was just one instance, so how do you know that is the way that they normally are? You don't and that is why I feel that psychotic behavior is situational.

The essay that I chose to research deals a lot with psychotic behaviors and face-to-face interactions and not so much about saving face or other types of face negotiations. Goffman mentions maintaining face and how people have different reactions to different situations. Most all of the theories Goffman has to offer I agree with and the issue of face-negotiation that I am getting from this essay is that different behaviors have a way of making people act in unique ways which sometimes make them seem psychotic or crazy. Other times they act perfectly normal. Basically different societies have different ways of controlling face maintenance.

In our society,according to Stella Ting-toomey's theory of face negotiation, we have a low-context culture, we value what is said and words have great meaning. We look out for what is best for the individual rather than what is best for the entire society or group. So our way of maintaining face is different than those who live in a high-context culture or society. We worry about saving our own face and maintaining our own self-image where people in a high-context society worry about saying the face and images of others. The people in a high-context society worry very little about making themselves look good they are much more concerned with the group.

In Stella Ting-Toomey's four faces of face the main aspect that this essay focuses on is the fourth face, which is "face-giving." Face giving is the act of defending or supporting the other person's need for inclusion or acceptance in the group or society. The other three faces of face are, Face-restoration, Face-saving, and Face-assertion. Face-restoration is when an individual gives self-freedom and space. "protect self from other's infringement on one's autonomy." This is basically protecting your own self-image and reputation. Making sure that your image is still good in the public eye. The second face is Face-saving, this is basically the respect for another person's space and freedom to dissociate from the group if they so desire. The last face is Face-assertion. This face is when you protect and defend your own rights and needs to be included in the group or society. This article only lightly touched on three of the four faces of face but I totally agree with the aspects of this essay that were focused on.

Goffman is an extremely intelligent man with amazingly sound theories. His theory of how some people's actions may be deemed psychotic by a doctor, but look like rude or improper behavior to the lay public, is true. I feel that one person can be acting in a psychotic manner one minute and the next he can be perfectly sane. It all depends on the situation being delt with. Goffman's ideas are sound and have a lot of evidence supporting them.



The face-negotiation theory is a very good and indepth one. If you would like to find out more about related areas, click on the theory of Symbolic Interactionsim, this theory is closely related to that of the face-negotiation theory. Check it out and further your knowledge of these fine theories.


Source: Ethnography of face: Erving Goffman, Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Doubleday, Garden City, N.Y., 1959, and Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Interaction, Doubleday, Garden City, N.Y., 1967.





Last Modified 3/10/00

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