Under What Conditions Do People Feel Face-Loss? Effects of the Presence of Others and Social Roles on the Perception of Losing Face in Japanese Culture

Abstract

Although face plays an important role in our daily interpersonal interactions, little is known about how people perceive face-loss. An open-ended survey revealed that the need to protect face consists of two factors: the presence of others and social role involvement (Study 1). In a follow-up scenario experiment, it was found that participants perceived protagonists as losing face most when the protagonists failed to fulfill a social role in the presence of others. The effect of failure in a social role on perceived face-loss was mediated by role expectations (Study 2). The involvement of one’s social role in public situations triggers a sense of face-loss in Japanese culture. Future research is encouraged to explore the generalizability of these results in cross-cultural contexts.