本研究採2×2的情境實驗法（scenario experiment），讓147位研究參與者面對需要他（她）代理請託他人幫忙某個陷入道德臉面受威脅困境的關係對象。此道德臉面受威脅的關係對象或是研究參與者的「家人」或是他的「好友」；此關係對象之所以陷入該困境，分別「有」或「無」合理的理由。觀測的依變項有二：研究參與者與受助對象感同「丟臉」的程度，以及為臉面受威脅對象尋找的幫忙對象，是可以維護道德臉面的陌生人，或者是有人情關係的朋友。研究結果顯示：當此事件當事人是請託者的家人，且當事人之所以會處於該困境並沒有合理的藉口時，請託者的沒面子感受高，且傾向請關係較遠的「陌生人」幫忙；相對地，在家人有合理藉口的情況下，請託者的沒面子感受相對較低，多數的研究參與者選擇向關係較近的朋友求助。若當事人是好友時，則不管當事人有無合理藉口，請託者並不會有沒面子的感受，且多選擇向朋友求助。根據研究結果，本研究也討論了西方之「大我」與華人之「大我」之理論基礎的文化差異。

This study examined the effects of face-sharing and reasonable excuses on people’s feelings of disgrace and choice of a helper for either a family member or a good friend in moral-face threatening distress who needed help by using a 2 x 2 scenario experimental method. The dependent variables were 147 Taiwanese participants’ ratings of feeling of losing face and their choice of helper (friend vs. stranger). The analysis showed that when the person in the moral-face threatening situation was a family member and had a reasonable excuse for misbehavior, participants indicated a less feeling of losing face and tended to choose a friend to help. If the family member did not have a reasonable excuse for the behavior, participants indicated a greater feeling of losing face and chose a stranger to help. When the one in distress was a friend, participants’ feeling of losing face was low, and they tended to choose a familiar person to help whether or not this friend had a good excuse for misbehavior. Based on the results of this study, cultural differences in the concepts of big-self (da-wo) between Western and Confucian societies are discussed.