LOSING FACE

The Chinese concept of "losing face" (mo meen in Cantonese) denotes the concept of bringing shame to oneself and ultimately to one's family.  Since the family is viewed to be more important than the self, personal mistakes and shortcomings "reflect badly on the entire family and cause shame or loss of face" (Braun and Browne, 1998).

Because loss of face is such an important concept to Chinese, and is taken more seriously in elderly Chinese than in more Americanized generations of Chinese, it is very likely for the Chinese elderly generations to withhold information regarding physical of mental ailments from the public eye and even from their own families.  The rationalization behind withholding information is that, by "avoid[ing] disclosing private concerns to outsiders" there is no way for others to look down on the family and therefore there is no loss of face (Braun and Browne, 1998).

However, for an elderly person to not discuss pain or sickness with one's doctor or even with one's family does not end well.  Since the elderly are more likely to still follow Chinese customs, they are more likely to see weakness as loss of face; it is the elderly who would most need the help of a doctor or physician in the event of an illness.

It is up to the younger generations to initiate conversations about disease and sickness with the elderly; because they would not speak openly about problems they may be having, the younger generations must be the ones to bring up the topics and help the elderly in receiving aid.



SOURCE:
Braun, Kathryn L., and Colette V. Browne. 1998. "Perceptions of Dementia, Caregiving, and Help Seeking among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans."  Health and Social Work 23, no 4:262-74.