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positional) face, the having or not having of (moral) face. Therefore, to study face, it may be best to approach it in crisis situations where the amount of face is alterable. These crisis situations are termed as face-enhancing and face-threatening situations in this paper and are illustrated in Table 2.
TABLE 2. Face Situations
Situations Whose Face One's Face Other's Face Enhancing ThreateningBut what constitute such crisis situations? What could enhance and what could threaten face? The answer could be found in the four variable factors of face: status, role performance, moral conduct, and others' reactions, and also the attributes of face: honour, influence and deference.
Situations When Face Is At Stake
In face-threatening situations, let's consider the dimensions one by one, first, when only the status is at stake. For an individual, an example may be dismissal from a job. For a nation, it may be discontinuation of membership status in an international organization. Second, when role performance is at stake, it may be that an individual is ruled as incompetent for his job as shown in his relatively low salary rise compared with his colleagues. For a nation, it may be a low GNP amidst other nations with comparable or even inferior resources. Third, when an individual commits bribery and is convicted, his moral integrity is at stake. A nation who wages war against another may be named the aggressor and scorned by other nations. Fourth, others' reactions may threaten face when an individual's deeds are openly disproved by others. Economic sanctions passed on to a nation may threaten the face of that nation.
In face enhancing situations, the case is more or less the same. An individual may enjoy a rise in status if he is elected to the chair of an
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