The Effects of National Culture and Face Concerns on Intention to Apologize: A Comparison of the USA and China

The current study examined national culture differences between US American and Chinese participants (N = 317) regarding face need concerns and apology intention, based on positive and negative face needs (Brown & Levinson, 1987 Brown, P and Levinson, SC. 1987. Politeness: Some universals in language usages, Cambridge, , UK: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) and concerns for self-face and other-face (Ting-Toomey, 2005 Ting-Toomey, S. 2005. “The matrix of face: An updated face-negotiation theory”. In Theorizing about intercultural communication, Edited by: Gudykunst, WB. 71–92. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. [Google Scholar]). Participants read vignettes that varied in relationship types (in-group vs. out-group members) and situation types (negative face vs. positive face threatening) and responded to scales measuring realism of the vignettes, intention to apologize, and five types of face need concerns. The findings showed that Chinese participants, compared to US Americans, had stronger intentions to apologize when their acts threatened the other person's positive face, while US American participants, compared to Chinese, had stronger intentions to apologize when their acts threatened the other's negative face. Other findings and implications thereof are discussed.