The Face-Negotiation Theory and Stella Ting-Toomey

1149 Words3 Pages

In the world of communication, there are many theories which describe different ways people communicate. According to Doctor Thomas Hanitzsch, an associate professor of communication at the University of Munich in Germany, “Communication Theory is an international forum publishing high quality, original research into the theoretical development of communication from across a wide array of disciplines” (“Communication Theory”). A specific communication theory that will be highlighted is the Face-Negotiation theory developed by Stella Ting-Toomey. Simply stated, Dr. Ting-Toomey suggests that conflict is a consequence of identity management on an individual and cultural level, and occurs when an individual or group’s face is threatened. Similarly, people from individualistic, low context cultures interact differently from collectivist, high context cultures. This means that “people from collectivistic cultures with an interdependent self-image are concerned with giving ‘other-face’ or ‘mutual face,’ so they adopt a conflict style of ‘avoiding or integrating’” (Griffin “List”). Likewise, “people from individualistic cultures with an independent self-image are concerned with protecting self-face, so they adopt a conflict style of ‘dominating’” (Griffin “List”).

Mentioned earlier, Stella Ting-Toomey is the individual who developed the Face-Negotiation theory and she is also a communication professor at California State University, Fullerton. Dr. Ting-Toomey was born in Hong Kong and came to the United States to attend the University of Iowa in 1972, a decision based on chance decision (Rindelre “Doctor Stella”). As of today, Dr. Ting-Toomey is a very well-known theorist, prolific author and professor at California State University, s...

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...heory_list>.

Rinderle, Susan. "Dr. Stella Ting-Toomey's Profile Interview." STELLA TING-TOOMEY's Home on the Web. College of Communications, May 2003. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. .

"Stella Ting-Toomey's Home on the Web." STELLA TING-TOOMEY's Home on the Web. College of Communications, 2006. Web. 15 Nov. 2011.

"The Matrix of Face: An Updated Face-Negotiation Theory." Theorizing About Intercultural Communication. Ed. William B. Gudykunst. 1st ed. London: SAGE, 2004. 71-92. Print.

Ting-Toomey, Stella. "Culture, Face Maintenance, and Styles of Handling Interpersonal Conflict: A Study in Five Cultures." International Journal of Conflict Management. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. .

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