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Impression Management

Impression management is not a clearly focused theory but a construct representing the presentation and maintenance of social identity during interaction. When scholars speak about managing an impression, they are not suggesting an artificial or manipulative agenda. They are simply referring to the image that a person displays during interaction. Some scholars use the term social or public self to distinguish social identity from the private self. As individuals, we are constituted of countless idiosyncrasies—habits, mannerisms, beliefs, attitudes, values, abilities, needs, interests, family history, and so forth. When interacting with others, we cannot display all aspects of our private self. We therefore select characteristics from our psychological and behavioral matrix that we believe will present the person (the self) we should be during that occasion. We might be aware that we do this only when our identity is important, such as preparing for a job interview, or when we have lost our composure during an embarrassing experience. However, we actually display a social self during all our interactions—during a conversation with friends, when conducting a meeting at work, as a student in the classroom, and even on a first date. Indeed, although cultural norms for what is appropriate may differ, individuals within all cultures present and manage the impression they believe to be appropriate for a particular context.

Few concepts are more fundamental to our understanding of communication than impression management. If individuals did construct a public self constrained by interaction norms, coherent communication would not be possible. Individuals would simply say whatever was on their mind, would enter and leave the conversation at will, and respond (or not respond) randomly to the comments of others. In short, without recognizing and adhering to norms of appropriate communication conduct, the co-construction of meaning would not be possible. The purpose of this entry is to provide the historical background for the concept of impression management and then to integrate the several related theories into a model of impression management goals and strategies.

Historical Background

Remarkably, although impression management is currently considered one of the essential features of communication, it is actually a relatively recent area of interest among communication scholars. Its origin lies in several theories formulated in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s by scholars in other areas of the social sciences.

Self-Presentation

The terms self-presentation and strategic self-presentation were used by Edward Jones and his colleagues to describe their conceptualization of impression management. Scholars in this tradition were psychologists and social psychologists interested in the link between patterns of behavioral displays in public and the psychological motivations behind these displays. The theory of self-presentation is predicated on the assumption that a person's presenting a coherent set of behaviors during interaction will lead others to make certain types of attributions about the person.

These behaviors and associated attributions have been summarized into a typology of five types of attributions, a characteristic strategy that should elicit each attribution, and various tactics to implement that strategy: (1) A person who wants to be perceived as likable or friendly will use the strategy of ingratiation and such tactics as displaying positive emotions during interactions, doing favors, giving compliments, and perhaps using self-deprecating humor. (2) A person who wants to be perceived as competent will use the strategy of self-promotion and such tactics as telling others about his or her achievements, good deeds, or accomplishments or by displaying plaques and awards for others to see. (3) A person who wants to be perceived as worthy will use the strategy of exemplification and such tactics as quietly demonstrating his or her abilities, competence, integrity, or values rather than stating them directly to others. (4) A person who wants to be perceived as helpless will use the strategy of supplication (also called self-handicapping) and the tactics of appearing weak or sad to elicit nurturing behavior from others or of claiming lack of knowledge or experience to avoid responsibility for a task. (5) A person who wants to be perceived as powerful or in control will use the strategy of intimidation and the tactics of displaying anger or demonstrating the willingness to punish or cause harm to others.

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