WHAT DOES BEING POLITE MEAN TO US? EXPLAINING INDIRECTNESS IN COMMUNICATION ACROSS MASCULINE VERSUS FEMININE CULTURES
WHAT DOES BEING POLITE MEAN TO US? EXPLAINING INDIRECTNESS IN COMMUNICATION ACROSS MASCULINE VERSUS FEMININE CULTURES

Summary/Abstract: Even though there are plenty of studies about politeness, little is known about the extent to which individuals from South European countries make use of politeness strategies. Thus, the aim of the present research was to examine cross-cultural differences in dispute discursive practices among two groups: native Greeks and Romanians. Having as point of departs S. Ting-Toomey’s facenegotiation theory and G. Hosfstede’s cultural dimensions, we intended to examine the effect of other’ locus of face on avoiding face works during interpersonal conflict conversation (the 24th FNT proposition). Data were collected through questionnaires applied to two young adult samples: one consisted of 482 Greeks and the other of 458 Romanians. The major findings point to a picture where the two cultural groups do differ when communicating, as follows: in both collectivistic groups, avoiding strategies (e.g. pretend and third party help) are associated with higher concern for other, rather than for self or mutual-face, in conversation. Women, in both national cultures consider give-in to be the most appropriate politeness act during conflict communication. Moreover, members from the Romanian society are using less indirect strategies, than Greeks do. Implications of the study for pragmatics and transcultural communication, in these two cultures, are been discussed.

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