Longitudinal Predictive Effects of Different Types of Face Consciousness on Cooperative Tendencies: Mediating Role of Prosocial and Achievement Motivations

This study aimed to explore the effect of differences in face consciousness on Chinese people's cooperative tendencies. We conducted a nine-month longitudinal tracking survey of 787 college students. The prediction effect of the desire to gain face on inclusiveness, reciprocity and gregariousness is stable and consistent across time, while the prediction effect of fear of losing face is not stable and consistent. Prosocial and success-oriented motivation mediated the relationship between the desire to gain face or fear of losing face, and cooperative tendencies; however, the desire to gain face promoted cooperative tendencies by positively predicting prosocial and success-oriented motivation, whereas the fear of losing face inhibited cooperative tendencies by negatively predicting prosocial and success-oriented motivation. Failure-avoidance motivation did not mediate the relationship between the desire to gain face or fear of losing face and cooperative tendencies. These results indicate differences in the predictive mechanisms through which face consciousness affects cooperative tendencies.