Self-Promotion

Definition

Self-promotion refers to the practice of purposefully trying to present oneself as highly competent to other people. When people self-promote, their primary motivation is to be perceived by others as capable, intelligent, or talented (even at the expense of being liked). Self-promotion becomes especially useful and prominent when a person competes against others for desirable—often scarce—resources, such as a good job or an attractive partner. People can self-promote their abilities in general or in a specific domain.

Context

Self-promotion exists as part of a general yet extremely pervasive human motivation: to be perceived favorably by others. In the case of self-promotion, people want to be perceived by others as being competent. Not surprisingly, then, people generally only selfpromote in public, and around people they want to impress, ...

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