Face-Threatening Acts (FTAs)

Ever wonder why some emails feel unnecessarily verbose, filled with phrases like "If it isn't an issue, could we possibly..." or "I'd be so happy to..."?

Well, these common extra words may just be an example of the concept of a face threatening act, or FTA.

According to Penelope Brown and Stephen C. Levinson's politeness theory, an FTA is an act that can threaten or damage another person's "face," which is roughly their reputation and self-esteem.

Generally, a face-threatening act threatens one of two types of "face":

• Positive face: the desire to be liked and approved of
• Negative face: the desire to be free to act how one wants

(Thomas 1995, p. 169)

Because dealing with FTAs is uncomfortable, people often soften messages using politeness strategies, which also come in two types:

• Positive politeness: appeals to positive face, happens more in close relationships
• Negative politeness: appeals to negative face, seen more in socially-distant situations

(Thomas 1995, pp. 171-172)

Examples:

Positive Politeness
That friend you never talk to who randomly asks you for $10 while buttering you up with compliments:

"Hey dude! It's been a while. Wow! You grew some muscles... Anyways... I was wondering, can you lend me $10?"

That's positive politeness. This "friend" tries building a connection and appealing to your emotion to make his ask more acceptable.

Negative Politeness
In contrast, here's an excerpt incorporating negative politeness of an email I sent to a professor when he didn't show up to a Zoom meeting:

"I have tried to join the Zoom link, but I do not see an active meeting. Is there another link?"

Although the professor was at fault for not showing up, the student-professor power dynamic prevented me from saying anything impolite; I did not want to offend my professor. Saying something along the lines of "Did you forget our meeting?" would have been too direct. I had to soften my blame.

Face-threatening acts in the workplace

Negative politeness is more likely appear in professional settings. This is because the necessity of an FTA is based on power, distance, and imposition:

• Power: Employees use more politeness in addressing bosses and less in addressing those below them.
• Distance: The closer two employees are, the less politeness they need to use.
• Imposition: The more demanding the ask, the more politeness needed.

Employees reminding their managers of something are likely to use negative politeness in their interactions, while managers might not use any politeness with subordinates. Additionally, employees close to each other may not find much of a need to even use politeness in most of their asks.

All that time spend stressing over how your boss will perceive your email? It may be time well spent. Understanding face threatening acts and their corresponding politeness strategies might be the thing that lands you your next job.