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I didn't want to post this in the Asia forum because I wanted an international perspective.
Many may have heard of the concept of 'saving face' in Asia, basically keeping one's dignity, sometimes at the expense of telling the truth. While maybe taken to an extreme there, I would say keeping one's dignity, not being embarrassed and being tactful is almost universal. However, some cultures probably getting straight to the point, or 'calling someone out' even in public, even if it embarrasses them or causes them to lose standing among peers.
While I understand cultural sensitivity, I would not bend the truth or refrain from saying something important simply so they will not 'lose face.'
What's it like in your country?
What do you think of whole concept? Do you think it's a bit over the top?
Will it make you more conscious of your interractions if you go to Asia?
Yeah, I'm also not giving this a pass just for 'cultural sensitivity'. Confidently giving people incorrect information or directions has worse consequences than just simply shrugging. Plus, how much face have you actually saved once I figure out three minutes later that you had no idea what you were talking about? At that point I'll think you're a jerk rather than just innocently not sure.
I'm not sure i get the question, correct me if i'm wrong, but we have this unspoken law of being the most normal person you can be. We have the saying "act normal, thats crazy enough". Kind of like Jantes law in scandinavia. This causes for a lot of lies and hiding the truth.
This law is mostly referring to not trying to be the best at everything or being a show off, but it also goes the other way of "you're not alowed to have a problem" or to "stand out" by the fact that there's something wrong. So if their is a problem, in order to safe face, people would pretend it just isn't there because it shames them, and make 'em feel un easy.
So for example, if you have a problem and try to talk about it to a colleque, there's a big chance he'd just ignore you, or pretent he didn't hear you. Or if they have a problem, even if they know you're the one person that can help them, they'd rather lie and hide it, to safe face.
Yeah, I'm also not giving this a pass just for 'cultural sensitivity'. Confidently giving people incorrect information or directions has worse consequences than just simply shrugging. Plus, how much face have you actually saved once I figure out three minutes later that you had no idea what you were talking about? At that point I'll think you're a jerk rather than just innocently not sure.
Yeah exactly. I guess a lot of it is being embarrassed in front of people.
Honestly, there's not that much difference between the whole "face" concept and the passiveness one encounters in British culture. Look at the "British problems" - the ones regarding subtlety/evasiveness of social interactions are pretty damn similar to face. Swallow your pride and just pretend everything is fine. Southern culture in the U.S. is somewhat similar, where "bless your heart!" means "you idiot!"
Honestly, there's not that much difference between the whole "face" concept and the passiveness one encounters in British culture. Look at the "British problems" - the ones regarding subtlety/evasiveness of social interactions are pretty damn similar to face. Swallow your pride and just pretend everything is fine. Southern culture in the U.S. is somewhat similar, where "bless your heart!" means "you idiot!"
There is a notable difference between regions in Britain, areas of Northern England such as Yorkshire being renowned for their bluntness.
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