Management of Impressions

Conceptual Overview and Discussion

Impression management is a phrase that has now entered common parlance. There has been a great deal of academic research into emotions and how we display these in order to portray certain emotions, views, or impressions about ourselves and to evoke certain responses from others. It is primarily upon the social science disciplines of social psychology, sociology, and social anthropology that Erving Goffman has made a significant impact on our understanding and application of the management of impressions. Goffman's work is often ascribed to the sociological school of thought termed symbolic interactionism. His work on impression management can be characterized as microlevel sociological theory as it is concerned with social interactions within groups as opposed to larger social orderings and structures that can be approached on a more macrotheoretical level. This tradition also tends to employ ethnographic methods such as participant observation, rather than statistically related methods, due to the focus on individual actors, actions, and social roles.

The simple shrug and the smile have the power to communicate potentially more than words alone. The goal of managing the impressions we make upon others, and consequently the perceptions that they have of us, may be a conscious or an unconscious act. Indeed, this is a key part of human socialization whereby awareness of the other and perception of how our actions and interactions cause positive or negative responses are important learning processes in our development of social skills. Impression management is an endemic feature of everyday life and daily interactions, and we all attempt it to some degree. This is why the notion of impression management is closely linked to the concept of self-presentation. For instance, when we go to work, attend a job interview, pose for a photograph, or socialize with friends, we are managing the presentation of self according to the impression we want to project at that moment in line with our goals, priorities, context, audience, and the prevailing social codes/norms.

Goffman described how impression management is carried out by individuals and groups in order to fit with the impressions that they want to convey. Thus, impression management theory encompasses concerns with image, role, communication, verbal and behavioral cues, and perception. A key tenet is that perception impacts upon our construction of reality, which in turn influences subsequent perceptions, behavior, and decision making. Arguably one of the most influential and engaging theories to emerge from Goffman's work in this area is that of dramaturgy, a theatrical metaphor framing social interactions and impressions and our conceptions of self via unfolding scenes and events during which our actions are determined by time, space, and audience. Goffman evokes this theatrical metaphor by relating our everyday interactions, self-presentations, and impression management to performances on an imaginary stage. Indeed, the first chapter in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life is titled “Performances: Belief in the Part One Is Playing.” Therefore, depending upon the audience at that moment in time, we all play different parts such as parent, child, sibling, teacher, student, customer, and so forth. The notion of a stage upon which performances are enacted through role-playing is also used in this way to draw a distinction between metaphorical front stage and back stage areas of our lives. These may not necessarily be physical spaces, but also temporal zones. While the front stage is that on which one is consciously performing to an audience, the back stage is where one is present but the audience is absent or different, thus meaning that the front stage performance can be suspended. The back stage tends to have greater informality and is where one feels assured that one is not being watched. In chapter 2 of the Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, titled “Regions and Region Behavior,” Goffman explains that the back stage can be seen as an area where the impression given by a performance is knowingly contradicted. Offstage areas are where we reside if we are not involved in the performance. Therefore, boundaries are also significant in a dramaturgical framework and for the actors involved, as they help demarcate between, and determine access to, the various regions. Key techniques of impression management include defensive techniques that are employed prior to a performance such as rehearsals and preparation, and protective techniques used during the interaction in order to cover up any mistakes or unintended impressions.

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