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Culture, Positive and Negative Face Threats, and Apology Intentions

Michigan State University, East Lansing, heesun{at}msu.edu

Xiaowen Guan

University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota

This study investigated cultural differences in apology intentions moderated by the threatened face type and the relationship between interactants. With Chinese and U.S. undergraduate participants, this study revealed that (a) offending acts were more face-threatening toward a stranger than toward a friend; (b) apology intention was stronger for a stranger than for a friend; (c) for threatening negative face, Americans had stronger apology intentions than did Chinese, whereas for threatening positive face, Chinese had stronger apology intentions than did Americans; (d) situational variations in negative and positive face threats significantly related to apology intentions; and (e) Americans' apology intention, compared with Chinese, was more strongly related to amount of negative face threat in each act.

Key Words: culture • face • apology • United States of America • China

This version was published on September 1, 2009

Journal of Language and Social Psychology, Vol. 28, No. 3, 244-262 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0261927X09335249


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