Face needs, intragroup status, and women's reactions to socially aggressive face threats

Socially aggressive face threats (SAFTs) are messages that threaten one's identity or positive face. Given the potential negative consequences of being a recipient of such behavior, the role of positive face needs, intragroup status, and the face-threatening nature of social aggression in predicting correlates of negative affect experienced as a result of being a target of SAFTs, including the face threat of the response, forgiveness, and well-being was investigated. On the basis of the survey responses from 199 college-aged women, findings indicated that targets' positive face needs and intragroup status are directly and indirectly associated with forgiveness and overall well-being. Implications for these findings in relation to theorizing about face and intragroup identity, as well as limitations and suggestions for future research were provided.