Impression Management Theory

Symbolic Interactionism

The theoretical foundations of impression management theory extend to George Herbert Mead's (1934) sociological works on symbolic interactionism, which declared that both individual and group identity is socially constructed; that shared symbols form the basis for communication; and that human interaction is by nature dramatic, relying on the creation and adoption of social roles in particular situations. This theoretical perspective established within the individual a dichotomous relationship [Page 411]between a real, underlying self (the I) and the reflective self (the me), which constructs a selfperception from observing how other individuals respond to the individual's behavior. The influence of this perspective remains evident in the characterization of communicators as actors who construct a persona that may or may not display their actual thoughts or emotions.

Social Cognition

Daniel T. Gilbert (1998) explained how the social cognitive tradition of psychology further developed impression management theory, elaborating its connections with attribution theory and implicit personality theory. Attribution theory posits that people infer unknown personality traits and dispositions about others based on behaviors they have observed. From extensive experience with the organization of human personalities, observers construct an implicit personality for the other and evaluate the other's behavior accordingly. Impression management is the complement to attribution, claiming that the individual actor works consciously and unconsciously to shape the behaviors that others see, and thus the implicit personality that they construct.

Dramatism and Dramaturgical Theory

Goffman's (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life is a key text to impression management theory. In it, Goffman introduced the metaphor of staged performance, which has remained dominant within the theory: Individuals are actors who attempt to control both the situation or scene and the content of the interaction in which they participate. Observers, including interlocutors, are considered members of an audience. The actor is responsible for two kinds of signaling in interaction: that which is given, and that which is given off. First, the actor actively (though not always consciously) constructs a front, or persona, using verbal and nonverbal cues to project either the image of reality that he or she wants the audience to accept, or the image of reality that the audience expects to see. Second, the actor gives off expressions that are read and attributed to personality characteristics. Goffman proposes that individuals rely heavily on their own expectations and the expectations of those with whom they communicate to determine what behaviors are appropriate to a given scene. Such performances ceremonially confirm socially accredited values, much as Emile Durkheim (1915/1965) described in his own sociological works on ceremony. Furthermore, to maintain tact and respect how others present themselves, actors and audiences must be aware of cultural differences.

...