Through a survey and an experiment, the study analyzes chemyeon (체면, social face) as “self-esteem shown outward”: it matters most to people of high status, and keeping it up among close friends creates distance.
Multifaceted Analysis of Chemyon (Social Face): An Indigenous Korean Perspective
한국인의 체면에 대한 사회심리학적 한 분석
QUESTION
What is Korean chemyeon, conceptually — who keeps face in front of whom, when, and what is lost when face falls?
FINDINGS
Chemyeon can be seen as “outer self-esteem” projected outward, while self-esteem is “inner chemyeon” projected inward.
체면은 밖으로 비추어진 외적 자존심이라 한다면, 자존심은 안으로 비추어친 내적체면이라고 볼 수 있다If chemyeon is outer self-esteem projected outward, self-esteem can be seen as inner chemyeon projected inward.p19Chemyeon turned out to be kept by someone already higher in status or position, in front of someone lower.
지위나 신분에서 이미 상대보다 높은 사람이 낮은 사람앞에서 나타난다It appears in front of a lower person, by a person already higher than the other in position or status.p5The higher the status — minister, professor, company president — the more people were rated as needing to keep face; the lower the status — university students, laborers, farmers — the less.
며 낮은 신분이나 서민 (예컨대, 대학생, 노동자, 거지, 농민 등)일수록 그 필요성의 평정은 낮다…the lower the status or the more ordinary the person (e.g., university students, laborers, beggars, farmers), the lower the rated need.p12높은 지위에 있는 사람(예7글대들 장관, 교수 사장, 총장)일수록 체면을 지켜야 될 필요성 평정이 높으…the higher a person's position (e.g., minister, professor, company president, university president), the higher the rated need to keep face…p12Keeping up face too much in a very close relationship actually creates distance.
서로가 아주 가까운 관계에서 체면을 지나치게 차리면 거리감이 생긴다If people keep up chemyeon too much in a very close relationship, a sense of distance arises.p19The authors argue chemyeon matters in an authoritarian society conscious of others and status, and matters less in the individualistic, egalitarian United States.
개인주의적 미국사회에서는 전통적 한국사회에서 보다 덜 중요하다In individualistic American society it is less important than in traditional Korean society.p19체면은 타인의식적이고 신분지향척인 권위주의적 사회에서 중요한 현상인 반면 자기지항적이고 평등 지향적인 개인주의적 미국사회에서는Chemyeon is an important phenomenon in an other-conscious, status-oriented authoritarian society, whereas in the self-oriented, egalitarian, individualistic American society…p19IN DAILY LIFE
Ordering more food than can be eaten to hint at one's status and wealth (given alongside examples like big houses, expensive cars, and imported clothes beyond one's means).
음식은 먹고 남을 정도로 많이 시켜 지위경제적 상층성을 암시하고…ordering so much food that some is left over, implying high socioeconomic status…p3일상생활에서 다반사로 그 실예를 찾이볼 수 있다. 집을 짓되 고래등같은 집을 짓고…examples can be found every day in ordinary life: building a house, one builds it as big as a whale's back…p3치는 경제성보다 고가성 차를 신호하고…preferring a car for its high price rather than its economy…p3의복은 자기의 경제적 신분에 넘치는 외제나 고가품을 선호한다…in clothing, preferring imported or expensive goods beyond one's economic standing…p3The phrase “Don't stand on chemyeon — eat a lot!” — here chemyeon means the face one keeps up oneself.
체면차리지 말고 많이 먹어라'라는 말은 스스로 차리는 체면을 지칭하며The phrase “Don't stand on chemyeon, eat a lot” refers to the chemyeon one keeps up oneself.p19In depth
This paper, more closely — every sentence carries an original quote and page number.
Background
Scholars, commentators, and ordinary people almost all agree that Koreans place great weight on chemyeon.
한국 사람이 체면을 중시한다는 밀에 거의 합의하고 있다…almost agree with the statement that Koreans value chemyeon.p1여러 하자들과 사회평론가 그리고 한국의 일반인들은Many scholars, social commentators, and ordinary Koreans…p1Yet despite this national consensus, theoretical or in-depth research into the psychology behind chemyeon was hard to find.
한국인의 체면에 대한 이론적이거나 심층적인 연구는 아직까지 찾아보기 어렵다Theoretical or in-depth research on Korean chemyeon is still hard to find.p3그러나 이러한 국민적 공감대를 갖는 한국인의 체면에 대한Yet, regarding Korean chemyeon, about which there is such national consensus…p3한국인이 체면을 중시한디는 면을 예시하거나 설명言는데 촛점을 두고 있는 반면 체면이 어떤 심리기제에서 나타나며…focus on illustrating or explaining that Koreans value chemyeon, whereas what psychological mechanism chemyeon arises from…p3Method
Data came from a survey and an experiment. Survey answers (free description and structured questions) were content- and factor-analyzed; in the experiment, professor–student meetings were secretly recorded and students' words, facial expressions, and behavior were analyzed.
서울의 C 대학교 남여학생 90명 (남 : 51, 여 : 39)올 대상으로…targeting 90 male and female students (51 men, 39 women) at C University in Seoul.p4위의 연구문제에 상응히는 질문을 자유기술식과 구조적 질문형대…questions corresponding to the research questions above, in free-description and structured question form…p4결과의 분석은 조사연구의 경우 기술적 문석과 요인분석을 실시하였으며For the survey study, results were analyzed with descriptive analysis and factor analysis…p4언어적, 안면표현적, 행동적 측면에서 내용분석하였…content-analyzed in verbal, facial-expression, and behavioral terms.p4연구당사자인 교수가 5명의 학생을 개별적으로 연구실에서 면담하는 형태를 취웠다…took the form of the professor-researcher meeting 5 students individually in his office.p4졸업는-문을 쓸 4학년 학생과 논문의 주제에 대해서 이야기하는 과정에서 교수는 학생의 생각과 상반되는 주제를 학생에게 제안하고…while discussing thesis topics with seniors (4th-year students) about to write graduation theses, the professor proposed a topic opposed to the student's idea…p4이에 대한 학생의 반응을 몰래카에라를 통해 수록하였…and recorded the student's reaction with a hidden camera.p4Detailed findings
The typical relationships where face matters appeared in the order professor–student, boss–subordinate, senior–junior, romantic partners, older–younger siblings, husband–wife, parent–child, and so on.
교수 대 학생, 상사 대 부하직원1 선배 대 후배Professor to student, boss to subordinate, senior to junior…p5남자 (애인) 대 여자(에인), 형 (누나) 대 동생, 남편 대 아내, 부모 대 자식…man (lover) to woman (lover), older brother (sister) to younger sibling, husband to wife, parent to child…p5Face-keeping relationships were neither distant like strangers nor intimate like friends or spouses, but formal, official, institutional ones.
도 아닌 격의관계, 공식관계떨 제도적 관계 등을 특깅으로 한다…neither [intimate], but characterized as formal, official, and institutional relationships.p5양자간의 관계가 제 3자 관계처럼 전혀 무관하거나 전혀 멀지도 않으며, 그렇다고 친구나 부부와 같이 서로를 이주…the relationship between the two is neither entirely unrelated or distant like a third-party relationship, nor, like friends or spouses, one in which they know each other very…p5Face is lost when one acts basely for one's position (character), fails to show the ability expected of it (competence), or fails to uphold its authority (authority).
즉 미천한 행동을 했을 때 체면이 떨어지며…that is, chemyeon falls when one behaves in a base manner…p5능력 및 역할을 해내지 못할 때1 즉 무능한 행동을 할 때 체면이 떨어지며…when one fails to fulfill the ability and role expected, that is, acts incompetently, face falls…p5자신의 신분과 지위와 연계된 권위를 지키지 못하는, 즉 딜귄위적 행동을 했을때 체면이 떨어지는…when one fails to uphold the authority tied to one's status and position, that is, acts without authority, face falls…p5One need not keep face in very close relationships, when a more urgent need arises, when the mood (a feast, a picnic) overwhelms it, or when one wants to grow closer.
1) 아주 친일한 관계, 2) 체면보다 더 주요한 또한 더 시급한 욕구가 지각된 상황1) very intimate relationships, 2) situations where a need more important and more urgent than chemyeon is perceived…p6분위가가 체면을 앞도하는 상황(예권대, 잔치집, 야유회올 데이트상화 등)…situations where the mood overwhelms face (e.g., a feast, a picnic, a date)…p6체면이 격식감과 소원김을 주는데 기여하는 상화에서 상대와 더 친밀하게 되고싶은 상황…situations where face contributes to a sense of formality and distance, and one wants to become closer to the other.p6The biggest loss when face falls was said to be that subordinates no longer take a leader's words seriously.
가장 큰 손실은 12번 리이더 위치에 있는 사람의 경우 아랫사람이 그 사람말을 어렵게 생각하지 않는다The biggest loss was item 12: for a person in a leadership position, subordinates do not take that person's words seriously.p8People named as indifferent to chemyeon often included artists, newspaper reporters, comedians, market vendors, and students retaking the college entrance exam.
예술가& 신문기자, 코미디언, 시장상인, 재수생 등과 같은 신분의 사람이 많이 등장하며People of statuses such as artists, newspaper reporters, comedians, market vendors, and exam retakers appear often…p11The most effective way to raise someone's face before others was not to state their status outright, but to acknowledge it indirectly — for example, hinting that they are a modest person hiding their power.
상대의 지위가 높다는 것을 직접 말로 나타내는 것이 아니라 암시적으로 상대의 지위를 타인 앞에서 인정한디는 것이다…rather than stating outright that the other's status is high, one acknowledges the other's status implicitly in front of others.p16가장 높은 평정 점수를 보인 문항은 15번 (그 사람은 자신의 권위나 힘을 겁손으로 감추는 성격의 사람으로 다른 사람들 앞에서 암시한다)The item with the highest rating was No. 15 (hinting before others that the person is someone who hides his authority or power with modesty)…p16In the experiment, 4 of the 5 students entering the professor's office wore an expression of “I'm sorry” or “I'm humbled.”
5명 (남자 3명, 여자 2명)중 4명이 “최송하다” 또는 “송구스럽다”는 표정을 나타내 보였다Of the 5 (3 men, 2 women), 4 showed an expression of “I'm sorry” or “I feel humbled.”p17Authors’ interpretation
The proverb “A yangban (noble) won't dog-paddle even when drowning” captures the essence of chemyeon: a person of high status cannot act in a way that lowers their dignity, however hard the situation.
양반은 물에 빠져도 개헤엄은 안친다는 속담이 체면의 본질을 이해하는데 좋은 시사점을 준다The proverb that a yangban won't dog-paddle even if he falls into water gives a good insight into the essence of chemyeon.p18높은 품격의 사희적 신부올 가진 사람은 아무-리 어려운 처지에 있어도 지진의 품격이나 신분을 낮추거나 해치는 행동을 할 수 없다…a person of high social standing cannot act in a way that lowers or harms his dignity or status, however difficult his situation…p18If politeness is the rule for keeping and protecting face in the West, modesty (gyeomson, 겸손) is how anmyeon (안면) is kept and protected in Korea.
한국에서 안면을 지키고 지켜주는 방식은 “겸손”이다In Korea, the way to keep and protect anmyeon is “modesty.”p19서양에서 face* 지키고 지켜주는 상호작용 법칙은 누0ⅱteness(친절)In the West, the interaction rule for keeping and protecting face is politeness…p19Keeping face too much becomes hypocrisy and formalism; keeping it too little costs one's dignity — so chemyeon should be kept in moderation.
체면을 지나치게 차리면 위선과 형식주의가 되고 체면을 지나치게 안차리면 체통이 떨어진다Keeping up chemyeon too much becomes hypocrisy and formalism, and keeping it too little costs one's dignity.p19Limits the authors note
Because the experiment was a two-person, task-focused meeting, face behavior — which shows best when a third party is watching — was hard to trigger, as the authors realized afterward.
본 실험에서와 같이 이자상화이며, 과제해결 지향적인 상호작용 상형에서는 체면심리와 체련행동이 활성화되기 어렵다In a two-person, task-solving interaction like this experiment, chemyeon psychology and behavior are hard to activate.p18목격하는 제삼자나 제삼자 집단이 있는 상황에서 나타나게 되는 경우가 많…often appears in situations where there is a witnessing third party or third-party group.p18활성화되기 어렵다는 것을 인구가 끝난 후 깨닫을 수 있었다…we came to realize after the study ended that these are hard to activate.p18Key terms
Chemyeon (체면), compared with Japanese tatemae Whereas tatemae is closer to a social ritual that raises the other, chemyeon is originally situational behavior driven by showing off one's own authority and standing over others.
체면은 원초적으로 타인보다 자신의 권위와 명분을 과시히는데서 동기화된 상황적 행Chemyeon is fundamentally situational behavior motivated by displaying one's own authority and standing rather than others'.p2다테마에'에는 자신이 아닌 상대의 명분과 명예를 상화적으그_ 높여주는데 촛점을 눈 사희척 리츄얼…tatemae is a social ritual focused on situationally raising the other's — not one's own — standing and honor…p2Anmyeon (안면) The basic exchange rule and etiquette required of anyone in relationships regardless of status — close to the Western concept of face.
면은 지위와 상관없이 대인관계에서 누구에게나 요구되는 상호작용의 기본적 법칙Anmyeon is a basic rule of interaction required of everyone in interpersonal relations regardless of status.p19안면이란 개념은 대인관계에서의 기본적 교환법칙이나 에리켓을 말한다…the concept of anmyeon refers to the basic exchange rules or etiquette of interpersonal relations.p19상호작용의 기본적 법칙으로 서양에서의 face의 개념에 가깝다…a basic rule of interaction, close to the Western concept of face.p19