Social Interaction And Impression Management

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 was first applied in face-to-face communication, but then was applied to computer-mediated communication. Also this concept was applied into different field of study from academic research in the field of psychology and sociology to practical fields such as

In The Presentation of Everyday Life, Goffman lays out the seven elements that create a performance: belief in the role that is being played, the front or ‘mask’, dramatic realization, idealization, maintenance of expressive control, misrepresentation, and deception/mystification. Using the simple description of someone interviewing for a job, we can see that “As he seeks to assume the role of an ideal employee (idealization), he tries (in his performance) to convey a certain image about himself through his dress, his speech, and his expressions (his front), emphasizing those things that he wants the interviewers to know (dramatic realization). He has to maintain control over these expressions throughout the interview (maintenance of expressive control). Any lapse in his performance in that role (misrepresentation) may lead to him revealing those things that he has been trying to conceal (mystification).” (Corbin, 2012)

Humans by nature, as suggested by Aronson, are a highly socialable species and care a lot about what others think of them. This has lead to the existence of a belief in public appearance or the sub-conscious development of self presentation. This is the foundation for Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis. “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts” (William Shakespeare). This essay

Erving Goffman is one of the most important American sociological theorist in the second half of the century and was also influenced by Durkheim, Freud, and Simmel in his work. He is well known for his analysis of human interaction which is now called “dramaturgical analysis”. Dramaturgical Analysis is the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance. For example, Goffman uses terms like “front”, “setting”, and “performance” when explaining his theory. The front is also known as the expressive equipment, intentional or unintentional kind employed by the performer. The setting is also part of the front and involves the physical layout like

Goffman illuminated the significance of seemingly insignificant acts. Of particular import are a person’s demeanor (conduct, dress) and the deference (honor, dignity, respect) it symbolically accords to others. By expressing oneself to be a well or poorly demeaned person, an individual simultaneously bestows or withholds deference to others. The reciprocal nature of deference and demeanor is such that maintaining a well-demeaned image allows those present to do likewise as the deference they receive obligates them to confer proper deference in kind. Each is rewarded for his or her good behavior by the deference that person reaps in turn. Yet, whether or not an individual is judged to be well demeaned is determined not by the individual himself but, rather, by the interpretations others make of his behavior during interaction. Indeed, claiming oneself to be well demeaned is a sign of poor demeanor (484).

Before we discuss Hochschild’s surface and deep acting, let us review one of the classic sociological accounts of the presentation of self, for the theatrical model of social roles has a long heritage that Hochschild is drawing on. Particularly influential is Erving Goffman’s 1959 work, Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. By ‘presentation of self’, Goffman (1959, pp. 9-18) means the performance that people put on, for the benefit of both other people and themselves. This performance is based on how the individuals want to be perceived by others and themselves; guided by motives, it is an attempt to control the responses from others that reflect on the self. Such performances can be classified into two situations (Goffman, 1959, pp. 28-29). In the first

Erving Goffman claims we manipulate our performance of social roles to control how we think about ourselves. According to his idea, we can change how we present ourselves to people, influencing other’s ideas of us. Though him, we are allowed to alter our costume, prop, delivery, set, or rehearsal, and we will notice a change in how people react to our alteration since we are individuals who behave like actors on stage preforming a play.

According to I. Goffman, the impression is a very delicate, subtle reality that can be destroyed by the slightest mistake. The inconsistency of the presentation arises from the distinction between "human - too human" and the social self. A natural person is subject to the influence of various impulses, changing from moment to moment. As a social person, presented to the audience, he should not be subject to changes. Socialization not only transforms, it fixes. Simon de Beauvoir (De Beauvior Simon, 1953) gives the example of a woman who "being already dressed" presents not herself, but an image as a sculpture or a picture or as an actor

Goffman is creating a similarity between the way we characterize ourselves in exchanges and the way performers convey their different roles they play. Self: the “self” is a dramatic product of interaction between individuals and groups. Deference is admiration is bestowed to a person. Demeanor means how a person presents a role. Front (stage): public performances are flawless and planned to describe the circumstances for spectators like a play. An example, is getting in front of the class to give a PowerPoint presentation, or giving a speech to a group. Backstage is the area of the presentation, which usually goes unnoticed by and regulated from the spectators (Applemouth and Edles, 2012: 475). Persons are free to convey any message they wish, and they can do it in a way they would not use in

Professor Jennings spent her time in class with us discussing how actors use expression as they perform. She explored both the concept of using body positioning and expression as a drive for emotion, as well as using emotion as a means of driving expressive. Either is useful when used in congruence with the other, but Professor Jennings emphasized that the most important part of both of these methods of acting is the communication to the audience what she is feeling/attempting to express. This component of emotional connection is what makes acting so unique as a trade. The idea of communicating through emotion lends itself to the idea that emotion is a positive force because it allows us to connect to one another.

Goffman, E. 1959. ‘Performances’ chapter 1, from the presentation of self in everyday life. London: penguin.

Details of the social actors are essential in understanding the meaning of their self presentation (Goffman, 1990:13). When an individual is interacting with another, or others, Goffman puts forward the argument that two presentations of the self are made; the 'given' and the 'given off' (Goffman 1990:14). The 'given' is the actual intended content of the interaction (Goffman, 1990: 14) whereas the 'given off' is mainly the substantial non-verbal communication which provides clues to the audience of the social interaction as to the true nature of the actor's self. Goffman's argument centers around the individuals intention to create a socially desirable impression, or what they perceive to be a socially desirable impression, on the audience (Goffman, 1990; 16). Goffman's main focus in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life aims to deduce how it is that the individual achieves this through an in depth analysis of the expression given off by them (Smith, 2006:

Impression management is the desire with an effort to control and influence the perceptions of other people about myself. It could be about me as the subject, my material possession or an event revolving around me. My primary goal of impression management is to create a perception in the minds which are consistent with my goals. Sociologists over time have introduced concepts trying to explain and put into context human behavior that tries to impress others. One of these is dramaturgy that puts human beings in a setting of a play as actors. I will try to dramatize situations about myself in order to manage an impression about me before others. In sociology, there are various mechanisms referred to as sign-vehicles that human beings use to present themselves to others. The most commonly employed sign-vehicles are social setting, appearance, and manner of interacting.

Goffman’s dramaturgical approach is a metaphorical technique used to explain how an individual presents an “idealized” rather than authentic version of herself. The metaphor considers life as a stage for activity. Individuals thus engage in performances, which Goffman (1959) defines as “activity of an individual which occurs during a period marked by his continuous presence before a particular set of observers and which has some influence on the observer.” (Hogan

Impression management is the process through which we form our views of others (Social Psychology, 104). How people see us is different from how we see ourselves. We all know we have our bad and good days and they affect how we interact with others. To some people, their bad days may have fallen on the same day as an important job/school interview or meetings with their bosses or supervisors. No matter how bad their days are, they still have to put on their best impressions because those interviews or meetings may change their lives. There are different tactics to impression managements and the degree of their success. Basing off of what I mentioned, a person is scheduled for a job/school interview, meaning it would be the first time he/she would be meeting a panel of important people. Before the interview, the person would pick out the outfit to make sure it is appropriate and practice how to behave and act in front of the people. At a point, the person feels like he looks good and is ready, but he would never know how his first impression of the other's perspective would be like. The thing about impression management is that people are very good at assuming what others would like as a first impression and I think it is true too. How fast and accurate do you think first impressions are? Based on the readings, “research suggests that first impressions are often accurate and many studies have reported that even working with what are known as thin slices of