Impression management is something we all do and in simplified terms, it is how we portray and present ourselves to those around us. The way we style our hair, the clothes one chooses and many lifestyle choices we make, can all be influenced by the impression or image that we want people to infer. Fashion trends are testament to this. Students are a good example; flip flops/ug boots, sweat pants, gillets, beanie hat. In themselves, none of these are essential or help a student study harder, but wearing them portrays an image that clearly says 'I'm a student'. To me it also says I'm quite annoying and used to play rugby/ride horses, but this is off topic. We see something that is 'cool', we want others to see us as 'cool', we therefore project ourselves to others in a way that is similar to this 'cool' prototype. Impression management isn't exclusive to clothes and hairstyles, it is all around us, in the choices we make and the way we act.
Leary & Kowalski (1990) have reviewed research on impression management and suggest that both social reward and self esteem concerns are causes of the use of impression management tactics. To a large extent this makes sense. When in a job interview it is critical we manage the impression we give off. If we are good enough we will be rewarded (getting the job). In addition, being liked by others is good for our self esteem. If we are able to manage our impressions to increase liking and so on, then it is beneficial. For the sake of this blog we will group these two causes of impression management together as 'social acceptance needs'. The idea we project ourselves to others to fulfil this type of need is supported by research that shows impression management tactics tend to increase when we feel we have failed or are embarrassed ('my self esteem is in need of a boost') and when competition for a job is implied to be tough.
Is impression management a good idea? In an ideal world where honesty and abstract fuzzy concepts like 'being who you are' matter, one would say it doesn't really matter. Yet, in the real world it probably does. If we take something as simple as eating and food, research shows we are judged by others to a worrying extent. For example, Vartanian (2000) presented participants with a video of a young female eating a meal. Participants either saw the female eating a small or relatively large amount. Seeing a young women eat more resulted in participants judging her to be more manly. Presumably this is a stereotype some women would want to avoid, so if you wish to avoid such judgements, some might argue that impression management is a good idea in some instances.
Similarly, Harris et al. (1984) gave participants written descriptions of fictional students and under the pretence that these were real people; participants rated perceived characteristics such as intelligence, successfulness, athleticism and conscientiousness. When participants were led to believe the characters were overweight perceptions changed dramatically. They were less intelligent, less successful, less athletic and less conscientious. When one thinks about how such findings are likely to be driven in part by our societies portrayal of thin = good, and how this might relate to disordered eating, then impression management starts to feel as though it may have bigger ramifications than just clothes and hair.As the impression management hypothesis would dictate – in some instances people change their behaviour to avoid these negative appraisals. In line with negative overeating stereotypes, in a 1987 study, Chaiken and colleagues showed that in a study that involved a 'get acquainted session', being paired with an attractive male resulted in young female participants eating far less snack food during the session. The authors suggest that the women ate less in order to portray themselves positively to the guy she was eating with.
Whether it is a good thing or a bad thing, we all make snap judgements about people and we all form stereotypes about certain behaviours and appearances. The studies just covered underline this. Indeed, if you knew that others would judge you as less feminine/more manly, less intelligent and so on, it would be difficult not to impression manage. Some of the time others judgements matter, so impression management rears its head. How do people feel about impression management? In job interviews and similar scenarios I would guess that most think it is OK. Bending the truth or portraying oneself in a certain way to get a job seems alright as everybody else will be doing it. It almost seems the norm.
But what about in everyday life? Should we walk around and behave in a certain way to impress those around us? I suggest this shouldn't be a major concern in life. Consciously controlling how we present ourselves feels as though it has connotations with vanity and generally society seems to value; a) the truth and, b) interpersonal independence. We like to know who/what we are dealing with and like the idea of making choices and decisions for ourselves – doing what is best for you. Over zealous impression management challenges both of these things. It potentially results in a person defining themselves by what others deem important. As what others deem important won't always be best for us, we have a problem on our hands.
As well as living for the benefit of others (which is surely bad in itself), impression management can be dangerous to your health. Tanning and smoking/drug use are all strongly driven by impression management and these aren't very good for us. A good tan = a good look. On the downside a good tan can also = skin cancer. Indeed, work by Leary and Jones (1993) indicated that the extent to which one is concerned with others impressions of themselves strongly predicts the likelihood that they will adopt risky behaviours that will increase the likelihood of skin cancer (no sun cream, long hours, sun beds etc.).
Disappointingly a fair amount of people also see smoking = 'cool'. Yet, smoking also = lung cancer. When a smoker tried there first cigarette it is done with others and rarely alone. In part, it is caused by social pressures. Substance abusers tend to score higher on measures of self presentation concerns (Lindquist et al. 1979). Social smoking is perhaps one of the best examples of impression management at its worse. For the first time smoker – it is a nasty experience. Furthermore, social smokers tend to be fair weather smokers, and they smoke only in public, only when the eyes of others are on them. These are but a few examples of where impression management goes wrong, but it doesn't just stop at health – impression management concerns could influence who we do and don't hang around with, the money we spend and careers we choose.
Whether we should worry about what others think isn't an easy question to answer. One cannot impression mange all the time, sooner or later the mask slips. Perhaps this is no coincidence that a lot of relationships fail a week or two in. One thing for sure is that we can't avoid the fact that others around us make judgements and these can matter. An obvious question is whether those we manage impressions for matter? Often we interact with people that really don't impact on our lives. Bad service in a restaurant, but worried what staff would think of you if you don't tip. Why tip? You won't be seeing them any time soon.
Finally, if we can see that we are behaving to portray, then evaluating the cost-weight of such behaviour would seem a sensible place to start. In the case of job interviews, we probably should continue to impression manage. Maybe even celebrities should they might be out of a career otherwise. Yet, exercise – is an increased risk of heart disease less important than the occasional feeling of self consciousness in the gym? Tanning: is skin cancer less of a worry than not getting complimentary comments about how your skin is glowing? You would hope the answers to both these questions should be 'no'.
Application
On a boring night out but don't want to come across as a goon and be the first to leave? Forget looking good, look like a goon and go home to your warm bed.
Couples that take photos together with a raised camera looking down when holidaying abroad: the impression you are producing here is not that you are close and in love, it is that you have little idea what to take photos of whilst on holiday.
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