BEIJING, Jan. 13 -- The idea that Chinese are very concerned with mianzi, or "face," may seem a tired stereotype, but a recent survey shows it has much validity.

    Over 80 percent of the 1,030 people queried by Beijing Sci-tech Report in a study released last week said that face was an important consideration in their lives.

    Only 11.98% thought face was moderately important, 2.61% said it was not important and 2.07% said they had no feelings on the issue.

    "In China, 'face' mostly stands for one's social status and reputation, and people paying attention to face. They are paying attention to the external estimation of their social status," Huang Guangguo, a psychologist at Taiwan University told Beijing Sci-tech Report.

    When asked, "What do you think of paying great attention to 'face' as a social phenomenon?" 51% of responden said it was hard to say if it was a good or bad thing, but that it was a useful habit.

    Just over 28% said "face" was a remnant of traditional culture that modern Chinese should reject, 15.6% thought it was good idea and helpful to communication, and 5% said that they simply did not care about the matter.

    The flip side of concern about face and keeping face is losing it in situations related to work or social standing.

    Over 35% of respondents said not being able to do their work well or show their abilities was the most "face-losing" situation imaginable.

    Another 17.29% chose "not having any social position and not having any say," 17.15% said "having limited income and money," 12.35% responded "not having enough social relationships," 10.88% chose "not having any power" and 6.99% answered "not having friends." Enditem

(Source: Beijing Today)