The Influence Of Face Behavior On Attitude Evaluation Of Ingroup And Outgroup And The Mediating Effect Of Emotion

"LIAN" and "MIANZI" are very typical and common social psychological and behavioral phenomena among Chinese people in a society that emphasizes human relations,and they are of great significance for interpersonal and group communication.Chinese people attach great importance to "LIAN" and "MIANZI" in interpersonal communication,so people also attach great importance to not losing "LIAN" or "MIANZI".It is more valuable to pay attention to the negativity of "LIAN" and "MIANZI".Previous studies have mostly distinguished the meaning of "LIAN" and "MIANZI" or explained Chinese behavior from a sociological perspective,while few studies have focused on the role of psychological variables from an empirical perspective.This study focuses on the question of "whether and how face behavior affects punishment intention and behavioral tendencies towards members of different groups" based on the perspective of face differences."Through four studies,409 participants were investigated,with the aim of clarifying people’s punishment intention and behavioral tendencies towards members of both ingroup and outgroup who lose "LIAN" or "MIANZI",and revealing the mediating effect of anger and shame emotions.Study 1 adopts a qualitative and quantitative approach,focusing on the negative aspects of face behavior.Based on the type of face behavior(lose "LIAN" vs lose "MIANZI")and the degree of face behavior(high vs low),four types of face behavior were obtained,namely,behaviors with high level of "LIAN" loss(e.g.stealing things),low level of "LIAN" loss(e.g.making loud noises in public),high level of "MIANZI" loss(e.g.being exposed in public),and low level of "MIANZI" loss(e.g.forgetting to bring money or not enough money when buying things).Study 2 used an experimental method to explore the punishment intention and behavioral tendencies(positive and negative)of individuals who lose "LIAN" and "MIANZI".The study found that compared to individuals who lose "MIANZI",people had higher punishment intention,lower positive behavioral tendencies,and higher negative behavioral tendencies towards individuals who lose "LIAN".At the same time,compared to individuals who did low levels of face behavior,the perception of individuals who did high levels of face behavior also showed the same results.Study 3 further examined the punishment intention and behavioral tendencies of members of ingroup and outgroup within a group framework.The study showed ingroup favoritism for losing "LIAN",that is,compared to out-group individual who lost "LIAN”,people have lower punishment intention,higher positive behavioral tendencies,and lower negative behavioral tendencies towards individuals who lost "LIAN" in own group,but there was no group identity difference on losing "MIANZI".In addition,group threat mediates the path from face behavior to punishment intention and behavioral tendencies in the ingroup,which means that individuals who lose "LIAN" pose greater group threats to the ingroup,resulting in stronger attitudes and behaviors.Study 4 further revealed the mediating mechanism of anger and shame emotions.Anger and shame both act on the ingroup,but only anger acts on the outgroup.In general,this study combines "LIAN" and "MIANZI" with group identity and emotions,discovering the moral priority effect of losing "LIAN" and the ingroup favoritism effect of group identity,and revealing the separation phenomenon of anger and shame emotions in different group identities.It provides a psychological basis for understanding the differences in face behavior and group identity,breaking the limitations of previous research perspectives,and filling in the face support of Chinese localization in group research.At the same time,the results of this study are enlightening for interpersonal and intergroup relationships,and have reference significance for the image maintenance of individuals and groups.