1998 年 13 巻 2 号 p. 103-111
The purpose of this study is to test the hypotheses drawn from the author's continuing research on differences in the perception of mien-tzu, or mentsu, and face-giving or face-saving strategies between PRC Chinese and Japanese. 189 Chinese and 191 Japanese undergraduate students participated in the study. Three findings should be noted. First, when mien-tzu/mentsu concerned the evaluation of one's competence, the Chinese students were more strongly concerned with their mien-tzu/mentsu than their Japanese counterparts. When it concerned their social status or how properly they are treated according to their social status, the Japanese students were more strongly concerned with their mentsu /mien-tzu than the Chinese students. Second, female students were more strongly concerned with their mien-tzu/mentsu than their male counterparts. Third, as for face-giving or face-saving strategies, mixed results were found. The hypothesis that Japanese students are more likely to engage in face-giving or face-saving strategies than Chinese students was not supported.