Supplication

We often want to influence the way other people perceive us. For instance, a professor might want her class to see her as intellectual and competent, whereas a boxer might want his competitors to see him as physically powerful and mean. Both the professor and the boxer are likely to act in ways that influence how others see them. The professor might take extra time preparing her notes for class or use impressive words in her lectures, whereas the boxer might affect a scowl or show off his muscles before a match. These are examples of strategic self-presentation—the term for acting in a manner that shapes how people view us.

Supplication is one kind of strategic self-presentation. Although most strategic self-presentations strategies are designed to make ...