Politeness theory

Politeness theory, proposed by Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson, centers on the notion of politeness, construed as efforts to redress the affronts to a person's self-esteems or face (as in "save face" or "lose face") in social interactions. Notable concepts include positive and negative face, the face threatening act (FTA), strategies surrounding FTAs and factors influencing the choices of strategies.

Though Brown and Levinson proposed their model as universally applicable, their theory has been challenged by other scholars both theoretically and with respect to its cross-cultural applicability.