Impression management

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In sociology and social psychology, impression management is a conscious or subconscious process in which people attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event. They do so by regulating and controlling information in social interaction[1]

Impression management is usually used synonymously with self-presentation, in which a person tries to influence the perception of their image. The notion of impression management also refers to practices in professional communication and public relations, where the term is used to describe the process of formation of a company's or organization's public image.[citation needed]

Self-presentation (psychology)

Self-presentation is conveying information about oneself - or an image of oneself - to others. There are two types and motivations of self-presentation:

  • presentation meant to match one's own self image, and
  • presentation meant to match audience expectations and preferences.[2]

The concept of self is important to the theory of impression management as the images people have of themselves shape and are shaped by social interactions (Schlenker 1980, pp. 47). Our self-concept develops from social experience early in life.[3] Schlenker (1980) further suggests that children anticipate the effect that their behaviours will have on others and how others will evaluate them. They control the impressions they might form on others and in doing so they control the outcomes they obtain from social interactions.

Social identity refers to how people are defined and regarded in social interactions (Schlenker 1980, pp. 69). Individuals use impression management strategies to influence the social identity they project to others.[3] The identity that people establish influences their behaviour in front of others, others' treatment of them and the outcomes they receive. Therefore, in their attempts to influence the impressions others form of themselves, a person plays an important role in affecting his social outcomes.[4]

Self-presentation is expressive. Individuals construct an image of themselves to claim personal identity, and present themselves in a manner that is consistent with that image.[5] If they feel like it is restricted, they often exhibit reactance or become defiant - try to assert their freedom against those who would seek to curtail self-presentation expressiveness. An example of this dynamic is the "preacher’s daughter", whose suppressed personal identity and emotions cause an eventual backlash at her family and community.

People adopt many different Self-presentation strategies, such as:

  • Boasting - Millon notes, that in self-presentation individuals are challenged to balance boasting against discrediting themselves via excessive self promotion or being caught and being proven wrong. Individuals often limited ability to perceive how our efforts impact our acceptance and likeability by others. [6]

Self-presentation can be either defensive or assertive strategies. Whereas defensive strategies include behaviours like avoidance of threatening situations or means of self-handicapping, assertive strategies refer to more active behaviour like the verbal idealisation of the self, the use of status symbols or similar practices.[8]

These strategies play important roles in one's maintenance of self-esteem.[9] One's self-esteem is affected by their evaluation of their own performance and their perception of how others react to their performance. As a result, people actively portray impressions that will elicit self-esteem enhancing reactions from others.[10]

Professional communications

There are instrumental motives driving impression management when one wants to influence another to achieve rewards. Some of the social outcomes are assistance, power, approval, or friendship. These social outcomes present impression in the workforce. With these factors going into play, they can really benefit the worker with bonuses and higher pay.[11]

Theory

Impression Management theory states that according to one’s goals, we try and make our perception to follow those goals. Certainly, the theory is about how the person wants to show himself or herself off but do it in a certain way to satisfy their needs and goals. A great example of impression management theory in play is in sports like soccer for instance. It is a big game and you want to showcase yourself as greatly as possible because there are college recruiters looking at you. Without a doubt this person would have the flashiest pair of cleats and try and perform their best as possible, to show off all their skills. Maybe their main goal is not to win the game but instead, to impress the college recruiters and try and show off in ways that will make the recruiters really want to pick him or her for their college team.[12]

Basic factors

A range of factors that govern impression management can be identified. It can be stated that impression management becomes necessary whenever there exists a kind of social situation, whether real or imaginary. Logically, the awareness of being a potential subject of monitoring is also crucial. Furthermore, the characteristics of a given social situation are important. Specifically, the surrounding cultural norms determine the appropriateness of particular nonverbal behaviours.[13] The actions have to be appropriate to the targets, and within that culture, so that the kind of audience as well as the relation to the audience influences the way impression management is realized. A person's goals are another factor governing the ways and strategies of impression management. This refers to the content of an assertion, which also leads to distinct ways of presentation of aspects of the self. The degree of self-efficacy describes whether a person is convinced that it is possible to convey the intended impression.[14]

A new study finds that, all other things being equal, people are more likely to pay attention to faces that have been associated with negative gossip than those with neutral or positive associations. The study contributes to a body of work showing that far from being objective, our perceptions are shaped by unconscious brain processes that determine what we "choose" to see or ignore — even before we become aware of it. The findings also add to the idea that the brain evolved to be particularly sensitive to "bad guys" or cheaters — fellow humans who undermine social life by deception, theft or other non-cooperative behavior.[15]

There are many methods behind self-presentation: including self disclosure (identifying what makes you "you" to another person), managing appearances (trying to fit in), ingratiation, aligning actions (making your actions seem appealing or understandable), and alter-casting (imposing identities on other people). These self-presentation methods can also be used on the corporate level as impression management.[16]

Erving Goffman

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Strategic interpersonal behavior to shape or influence impressions formed by an audience is not a new field. Plato spoke of the "stage of human life"[17] and Shakespeare crafted the famous sentence "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players".[18] In the 20th century, Erving Goffman also followed a dramaturgical analogy in his seminal book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, in which he said, "All the world is not, of course, a stage, but the crucial ways in which it isn't are not easy to specify."[19]

Goffman presented impression management dramaturgically, explaining the motivations behind complex human performances within a social setting based on a play metaphor.[20] Goffman's work incorporates aspects of a symbolic interactionist perspective,[21] emphasizing a qualitative analysis of the interactive nature of the communication process.

The actor, shaped by the environment and target audience, sees interaction as a performance. The objective of the performance is to provide the audience with an impression consistent with the desired goals of the actor.[22] Thus, impression management is also highly dependent on the situation.[23] In addition to these goals, individuals differ in responses from the interactive environment, some may be non-responsive to an audience's reactions while others actively respond to audience reactions in order to elicit positive results. These differences in response towards the environment and target audience are called self-monitoring.[24] Another factor in impression management is self-verification, the act of conforming the audience to the person's self-concept.

The audience can be real or imaginary. IM style norms, part of the mental programming received through socialization, are so fundamental that we usually do not notice our expectations of them. While an actor (speaker) tries to project a desired image, an audience (listener) might attribute a resonant or discordant image. An example is provided by situations in which embarrassment occurs and threatens the image of a participant.[25]

Social psychology

The social psychologist, Edward E. Jones, brought the study of impression management to the field of psychology during the 1960s and extended it to include people’s attempts to control others' impression of their personal characteristics.[26] His work sparked an increased attention towards impression management as a fundamental interpersonal process.

Self, social identity and social interaction

The concept of self is important to the theory of impression management as the images people have of themselves shape and are shaped by social interactions (Schlenker 1980, pp. 47). Our self-concept develops from social experience early in life.[3] Schlenker (1980) further suggests that children anticipate the effect that their behaviours will have on others and how others will evaluate them. They control the impressions they might form on others and in doing so they control the outcomes they obtain from social interactions.

Social identity refers to how people are defined and regarded in social interactions (Schlenker 1980, pp. 69). Individuals use impression management strategies to influence the social identity they project to others.[3] The identity that people establish influences their behaviour in front of others, others' treatment of them and the outcomes they receive. Therefore, in their attempts to influence the impressions others form of themselves, a person plays an important role in affecting his social outcomes.[27]

The media

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The medium of communication influences the actions taken in impression management. Self-efficacy can differ according to the fact whether the trial to convince somebody is made through face-to-face-interaction or by means of an e-mail.[24] Communication via devices like telephone, e-mail or chat is governed by technical restrictions, so that the way people express personal features etc. can be changed. This often shows how far people will go.

Social networking users will employ protective self-presentations for image management. Users will use subtractive and repudiate strategies to maintain a desired image.[28] Subtractive strategy is used to untag an undesirable photo on Social Networking Sites. In addition to un-tagging their name, some users will request the photo to be removed entirely. Repudiate strategy is used when a friend posts an undesirable comment about the user. In response to an undesired post, users may add another wall post as an innocence defense. Michael Stefanone states that “self-esteem maintenance is an important motivation for strategic self-presentation online.”[28] Outside evaluations of their physical appearance, competence, and approval from others determines how social media users respond to pictures and wall posts. Unsuccessful self-presentation online can lead to rejection and criticism from social groups.

The Internet

The development of the Internet has greatly increased self-presentation which is not based on visible appearance. Internet-based communication tools provide new opportunities for self-presentation, especially via social networking sites (SNSs). In social networking sites, users can create custom profile pages where they provide information of their choosing about themselves. However, a user is not the only source of information about themselves, as members of the online network are also able to divulge information about them. For example, a user may be able to publicly comment on others' status updates, add text-based posts to another's profile page, or tag them in a photo that becomes visible to others who view their profile. This type of interaction reduces one's control over their online presentation. However, in general, social networks allow users to optimize their self presentation. [29]

Significance in empirical research and economy

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Impression management can distort the results of empirical research that relies on interviews and surveys, a phenomenon commonly referred to as "social desirability bias". Impression management Theory nevertheless constitutes a field of research on its own.[30] When it comes to practical questions concerning public relations and the way organizations should handle their public image, the assumptions provided by impression management theory can also provide a framework.[31]

An examination of different impression management strategies acted out by individuals who were facing criminal trials where the trial outcomes could range from a death sentence, life in prison or acquittal has been reported in the forensic literature.[32] The Perri and Lichtenwald article examined female psychopathic killers, whom as a group were highly motivated to manage the impression that attorneys, judges, mental health professions and ultimately, a jury had of the murderers and the murder they committed. It provides legal case illustrations of the murderers combining and/or switching from one impression management strategy such as ingratiation or supplication to another as they worked towards their goal of diminishing or eliminating any accountability for the murders they committed.

Since the 1990s, researchers in the area of sport and exercise psychology have studied self-presentation. Concern about how one is perceived has been found to be relevant to the study of athletic performance. For example, anxiety may be produced when an athlete is in the presence of spectators. Self-presentational concerns have also been found to be relevant to exercise. For example, the concerns may elicit motivation to exercise. [33]

More recent research investigating the effects of impression management on social behaviour showed that social behaviours (e.g. eating) can serve to convey a desired impression to others and enhance one’s self-image. Research on eating has shown that people tend to eat less when they believe that they are being observed by others[34]

See also

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2

Footnotes

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  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Schlenker 1980, p. 85.
  4. Schlenker 1980, p. 90.
  5. Schlenker 1980, p. 37.
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. Felson 1984, p. 187.
  8. Piwinger; Ebert 2001, p. 26.
  9. Leary; Kowalski 1990.
  10. Hass 1981
  11. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. Kamau, C. (2009) Strategising impression management in corporations: cultural knowledge as capital. In D. Harorimana (Ed) Cultural implications of knowledge sharing, management and transfer: identifying competitive advantage. Chapter 4. Information Science Reference. ISBN 978-1-60566-790-4
  14. Doering 1999, p. 261-2.
  15. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-impression-management.htm
  17. http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/philebus.1b.txt
  18. Shakespeare, William. "Wikisource link to Act II". As You Like It. Wikisource. 
  19. Goffman 1959
  20. Dillard et al., 2000
  21. Schlenker; Barry 1980, p. 34.
  22. Barnhart, 1994
  23. Goffman 2006, p. 40.
  24. 24.0 24.1 Döring 1999, p. 262.
  25. Goffman 1956
  26. Leary; Kowalski 1990
  27. Schlenker 1980, p. 90.
  28. 28.0 28.1 Rui, J. and M. A. Stefanone (2013). Strategic Management of Other-Provided Information Online: Personality and Network Variables. System Sciences (HICSS), 2013 46th Hawaii International Conference on.
  29. Jian Rui, Michael A. Stefanone 2012, Strategic Self-Presentation online: A cross-cultural study, Computer in Human Behavior
  30. Tedeschi 1984
  31. Piwinger; Ebert 2001, p. 3.
  32. Perri, Frank S. and Lichtenwald, Terrance G. (2010). "The Last Frontier: Myths & The Female Psychopathic Killer," Forensic Examiner, Summer 2010, 50-67.
  33. Martin Ginis, K.A., Lindwall, M., & Prapavessis, H. (2007). Who cares what other people think? Self-presentation in exercise and sport. In R. Eklund & G. Tenenbaum (Eds.), Handbook of Sport Psychology (pp. 136–153). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiles & Sons.
  34. Herman; Roth; Polivy 2003

References

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  • Barnhart, Adam (1994), Erving Goffman: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
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  • Goffman, Erving (2006), Wir alle spielen Theater: Die Selbstdarstellung im Alltag, Piper, Munich.
  • Dillard, Courtney et al. (2000), Impression Management and the use of procedures at the Ritz-Carlton: Moral standards and dramaturgical discipline, Communication Studies, 51.
  • Döring, Nicola (1999), Sozialpsychologie des Internet: Die Bedeutung des Internet für Kommunikationsprozesse, Identitäten, soziale Beziehungen und Gruppen Hogrefe, Goettingen.
  • Felson, Richard B (1984): An Interactionist Approach to Aggression, in: Tedeschi, James T. (Ed.), Impression Management Theory and Social Psychological Research Academic Press, New York.
  • Hass, Glen R. (1981),Presentational Strategies, and the Social Expression of Attitudes: Impression management within Limits, in: Tedeschi, James T. (Ed.): Impression Management Theory and Social Psychological Research, Academic Press, New York.
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  • Tedeschi, James T.; Riess, Marc (1984), Identities, the Phenomenal Self, and Laboratory Research, in: Tedeschi, James T. (Ed.): Impression Management Theory and Social Psychological Research, Academic Press, New York.
  • Smith, Greg (2006), Erving Goffman, Routledge, New York.
  • Rui, J. and M. A. Stefanone (2013). Strategic Management of Other-Provided Information Online: Personality and Network Variables. System Sciences (HICSS), 2013 46th Hawaii International Conference on.he:ניהול הרושם