Facework comprises the communicative actions that sustain, contest, repair or negotiate a person’s claimed social image. Its form depends on the conflict and the relationship, so facework may involve direct challenge as well as protection or restoration of someone’s standing.
- Entry typeKey concept
- Category of its source unitTheories & Explanatory Models
- DomainConflict & Negotiation
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Entry type
Key concept
Key concepts are the working vocabulary of the field: the terms that the models and tools rely on and that a decision about communication has to use precisely. Each entry defines the term and sends you to the brief or the self-guided audit where it is put to work.
Editorial orientation · Category
Theories & Explanatory Models
Explains how or why a communication process works by relating mechanisms, conditions or variables. Its value is an account that can guide inquiry into what produces an outcome, rather than a name for the outcome alone.