Scholars have described conflict tactics as a means to engage or avoid a conflict, and face tactics as a means of face-saving by way of defense or restoration. While theories of conflict and face flourish, few researchers have sought an explanation of conflict themes within the field of nursing or examined how nurses display face-saving tactics within their conflict interactions. The goal of this study is to identify the connection of these concepts through a qualitative analysis of conflict stories compiled from interviews with licensed floor-nurses. The data is analyzed two ways: first, as conflict themes in stories about nurses’ floor/shift work; and secondly, as communicative face tactics used in conjunction with conflict styles as viewed through a nurses’ conflict-interaction. The study identified three outcomes. From the analysis of conflict stories, an updated and extended view of conflict themes in nursing is developed. Specific face tactics surfaced within certain conflict themes supporting the concept that face tactics can directly affect the outcome of a conflict interaction. And lastly, the discovery of new restorative and defensive face tactics not previously identified in research literature. The implications for theory and practical application are also discussed, as is the proposed direction for future research. / text

The current study explored coping strategies toward the context of discovering a partner's sexual infidelity. There were two primary goals for the current study. First, the current study examined the gender and national differences in conflict styles toward the context of discovering a partner's sexual infidelity. Second, the current study examined the relationship between face concerns and commitment. There were national and gender differences on self-construal face concern, face-concern and conflict styles in the current study. The current findings also suggested that face concern is moderating the relationship between commitment and conflict styles. The limitation and future directions were discussed as well as the clinical implications in the current study. / Ph. D.

abstract: This study investigated how young adults communicate their decision to religiously disaffiliate to their parents. Both the context in which the religious disaffiliation conversation took place and the communicative behaviors used during the religious disaffiliation conversation were studied. Research questions and hypotheses were guided by Family Communication Patterns Theory and Face Negotiation Theory. A partially mixed sequential quantitative dominate status design was employed to answer the research questions and hypotheses. Interviews were conducted with 10 young adults who had either disaffiliated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the Watch Tower Society. During the interviews, the survey instrument was refined; ultimately, it was completed by 298 religiously disaffiliated young adults. For the religious disaffiliation conversation’s context, results indicate that disaffiliated Jehovah’s Witnesses had higher conformity orientations than disaffiliated Latter-day Saints. Additionally, disaffiliated Jehovah’s Witnesses experienced more stress than disaffiliated Latter-day Saints. Planning the conversation in advance did lead to the disaffiliation conversation being less stressful for young adults. Furthermore, the analysis found that having three to five conversations reduced stress significantly more than having one or two conversations. For the communicative behaviors during the religious disaffiliation conversation, few differences were found in regard to prevalence of the facework behaviors between the two groups. Of the 14 facework behaviors, four were used more often by disaffiliated JW than disaffiliated LDS—abuse, passive aggressive, pretend, and defend self. In terms of effectiveness, the top five facework behaviors were talk about the problem, consider the other, have a private discussion, remain calm, and defend self. Overall, this study begins the conversation on how religious disaffiliation occurs between young adults and their parents and extends Family Communication Patterns Theory and Face Negotiation Theory to a new context. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Communication 2015

Costume play (i.e. cosplay) is a performance of fandom rife with rituals and communication practices. Cosplay roleplaying performances are cultural practices that reveal how cosplayers interact with one another and among non-cosplaying members of their fandoms. This study examines the expectations that cosplayers hold for roleplay, the forms of roleplay, and the ways in which roleplay can become an instigator of harassment. Through the lens of Face-Negotiation Theory, the author discusses how roleplay functions to maintain or threaten the public images of cosplayers and their audiences, and what strategies cosplayers implement to avoid the loss of face.

It is well known that international project teams and collaboration partners are operating in complex cultural settings influenced by factors such as postcolonial power dynamics, communication differences and dissynergies in motivation. Such discrepancies may have impeding effects on end-results, according to some scholars of intercultural communication. This paper aims to explore similarities and differences in communication and collaboration perspectives through the lens of Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) and Face Negotiation Theory (FNT). It does so by analysing qualitative data collected through in depth interviews with project team members from the NGO sector and the government in Cambodia. The project serving as an example case for this study is “An Inclusive Labour Market in Cambodia - Support to People with Disabilities 2021-2023”. The project is a collaboration between a Swedish government agency, five Cambodian NGOs, and a Finnish NGO as well as a number of international organisations operating in Cambodia. The Cambodian government, in particular National Employment Agency, (NEA), are also involved to anchor project results on a systematic level and create sustainability after the end of the project implementation period. The study agrees with postcolonial perspectives of international development and puts the Cambodian project partners’ perspective at the core of the analysis. In doing so, the aim is to outline and analyse differences and similarities found among representatives from different Cambodian stakeholders. In short, the key findings focus on how to strengthen communication and collaboration for more sustainable outcomes. In doing so, the study hopes to make a valuable contribution towards disability inclusion on the Cambodian labour market.