In daily interactions, people constantly make conscious or unconscious decisions of face-saving behaviors and acts in communications and interactions with others. Facework theory defines the intersection of an individual’s need to cooperate or not with the situation either to maintain, elevate or, in some cases, hinder others’ perception about them or others. Facework can be enacted using both verbal and non-verbal communication strategies. Further, facework is not static; instead, the interventions are typically enacted according to various situations or relations concerns. Firstly, facework interventions are used to achieve a positive face that portrays the desire to achieve love and affirmation from others. Secondly, the interventions may result in a negative face that portrays the desire for independence from certain restrictions and impositions. Generally, facework is important as it guides the moral codes of individuals, increases interactions between individuals, and restores damaged faces.
Facework guides the moral code of individuals in society by constraining how behavioral freedom. Typically, the faces individuals adapt are contextually driven by the situational and cultural expectations and other participants (Redmond, 2015). People adopt different faces according to situational and relational demands. For example, in a class, a student is likely to enact a face presenting him/her as intelligent or hardworking. In an extended family gathering, a child is likely to enact a face that presents him/her as obedient to the parents and other elders. Therefore, each of the situations is inherently associated with some particular code of behaviors which also demands various suitable faces. Also, as elaborated, both the child and the student are somewhat obligated to maintain that face of hard work and obedience respectively in subsequent encounters. In doing so, individuals in the society are not free to behave as they wish but are constrained and driven to continuously behave in the same culturally accepted behaviors consistent with the face work they had adapted.
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Facework also plays a crucial role in increasing interactions between individuals. According to Samp (2016), social interactions and communication based on mutually supportive faces adopted by each of the participants have been associated with increased levels of trustworthiness, openness, and overall satisfaction. Further, the latter mode of interaction has positively improved relationships and effectiveness at work or learning activities. The facework theory emphasizes that people's esteem depends on other people’s acceptance and validation of their enacted face associated with their interactions and relationships. For instance, during a class session, students are morally obliged to be subjective to the lecturer as which in turn portrays their positive competence face. Similarly, the lecturer also presents the lessons such that the students feel supported, which reciprocates a positive students face. If any face work is violated, incidences such as unnecessary interruption in class and mobile phone usage can probably occur during the class session. Understandably, the lecturer may get angry and acts in ways that depict a sense of defense in an attempt to restore or maintain his/her face. For instance, he/she can threaten the students' opposing faces which portray their sense of autonomy. In that case, the parties are conservative and defensive of their face preservation. In the correct usage, facework provides mutual support for the people interacting and relating, thus building their relationship.
Thirdly, facework incorporates various corrective strategies to manage and restore one’s or other people's damaged or compromised face. Redmond (2015) notes that the strategies include discretion, apology and compensation, circumlocutions and deceptions, and tact. Discretion entails simply ignoring one perceived correct remarks or inputs to avoid contradicting and embarrassing others' faces. Also, individuals may use deception to avoid hurting or threatening others' face. When one’s actions or face leads to harm to the other party, apologizing or remittance can amicably reduce their lost face. As such, face works are essential in maintaining and restoring constructive faces in relationships.
In conclusion, applying face work theory in our daily interactions is a necessity. As demonstrated, the theory is an educative instrument that can explain people's unconscious or conscious social behaviors and how they can enact the appropriate face work, either positive or negative, to achieve their intentions. The theory also enables people to understand why other people may behave in particular ways and apply the necessary strategies to restore or maintain their face.
References
Redmond, M. V. (2015). Face and Politeness Theories. In M. V. Redmond, English Technical Reports and White Papers. http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/engl_reports/2
Samp, J. A. (2016). The International Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Communication (First ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118540190.wbeic0063
