Analysis of attitude to politeness between

British & Japanese people

18/5/2015Group Research Project

Kana Matsumoto, Masatoshi UsuiMika Nonomura, Sanae Nisioka

Research Topic

•“Politeness” in Britain and Japan - Table manners - Romantic relationship on SNS - Greeting - Languages

Our Survey

•Facebook & Twitter (20th~30th Apr)

- 80 answers from British → 20s~60s (univ. students & teachers) - 100 from Japanese → 20s~50s (univ. students & teachers)

Table manners

Table manners

Reasons for lectures of table manners

Pro. • useful skill and helpful in

social situations.

Con. • for parents, not teachers• parents’ duty• should be during lunch-

time, not in class-time

Pro.• necessary for the future• not wasteful to learn• good ages to acquire

such manners

Con. • should be taught at home

Difference in Greeting (Morrison,1994)

UK

・ Handshakes = Formal・ Hug ・ Eye Contact・ How do you do?

JP

・ Handshakes = Business occasion・ No kiss/ hug・ Bow = Respect

Result of survey

UK JP

Ubiquitous SNS worldwide (Facebook, 2012)

How SNS influences romantic relationships (Blair and Holmberg, 2008)☆Experience Higher number of British friends put relationship status on public.

⇓Result??

59%41

%

Yes 13.40%

80.60%

Yes

Do you set a "Relationship status" on Facebook?

NoNo

The relationship status option on FB allows people to show off their romantic relationship for symbolizing ownership or for their own satisfaction. (Greg, 2010)

148

30

70

16

for self-satisfactionfor showing ownershipfor making relationship officialbecause it isn't something that need to be hiddenOther

15% 8%

77%

23%

If you answered "Yes" then choose from following

Other opinion

• Share news – no repetitive

• Expressing not looking for a relationship

•Because I am proud of them

• It’s like wearing a wedding ring. (Elms, 2007)

Do you regard opening such a private relationship to the public embarrassing?

16.25%

83.75%

Japanese36.73%

63.27%

YesYes

NoNo

Analysis

Openness passive attitude Respect / proud altruistic ( care others ) Acceptance shyness separation – private/publicity

Politeness appears in languages

How people show politeness through language?

• Japanese language have type of speech call Keigo, which makes listener feel higher than speaker. By using Keigo, Japanese people show respect and politeness to listeners.

Question:How British people show respect to others through language?Prediction: Understatement could show respect to others

British politeness…?

Survey result from JapaneseQuestion 2: How do you feel about using Keigo?

Survey result from British

Question 1: When do you normally understate your actions?

Survey result from British

Summarize

• How to show politenessJapanese: by using Keigo.British: by using formal language and behavior.

Unlike Japanese, British people seem to show politeness by behavior, more than language.

Conclusion - British

table manners – respect tradition

SNS – respect partner

Greeting friendly, casual = physical distance

Showing politeness – behaviour > language

Thank you for listening