goffman的面子理论.docx

Apology is necessary when an offense as in the forms of harm or discomfort has taken place, whether or not the offense is intentional. Although the concept of apology is culture-universal, its application and interpretation may be culture-specific (Barnlund Yoshioka, 11010;Owen, 11013; Wolfson, Marmor, Jones, 11019). People in different cultures may use different types of apologies when committing the same offense. Alternatively, the type of offense that calls for apology in one culture may not necessitate apology use in another culture. When facing the same situation, people in one culture may be more likely to intend to apologize than those in another culture.
The current study investigates apology use in two different interpersonal situations withdata gathered from Chinese and . Americans. Based on Brown and Levinson‟s (111017)politeness
theory and Ting-Toomey‟s (11018) face negotiation theory, the current study tests therelationship between face needs and intention to apologize. By varying the relationship betweenan offender and a victim and the types of face threatened, the study examines how people indifferent cultures respond to situations depicted in vignettes and how people‟s own concerns forself and other face needs relate to their intention to offer an apology.










比照中美致歉倾向中的文化影响和面子观念
Apology
Goffman (1971) defined apology as the offender‟s device to remedy a social breach and to reestablish social harmony. To apologize is to admit the offense, express the remorse, and request for the forgiveness from the victim (Goffman, 1971). Goffman‟s (1971) view of apology is highly offender-centered, since all the functions of apology are to help the offender restore