Different Aspects and Applications of Impression Management

Every day people conscientiously or unconsciously participate in impression management. Impression management can be described as a way for individuals to do things that will impact the way other individuals perceive them, an event, an object, or another person. This is often used to create positive images and can involve social, cultural, and spiritual implications. Erving Goffman calls this the “presentation of the self” because often impression management is viewed as a theoretical performance. Children and adults can use different aspects of impression management to form their personal paths in life. I have used impression management in my life in a variety of ways including in everyday social situation and job interviews. Sometimes impression management can be used effectively and sometimes it is not, and that is clear from my following experiences.

The spring of my freshman year at Berry I decided to apply for the on campus position of being a part of the Krannert Center Activities Board (KCAB). During the previous term when I was at Berry, I found that I was unengaged with the campus community and I found myself wanting more from my experience at Berry College. I thought that applying for a position on Krannert Center Activities Board would open up my personal connections and would inevitably get me farther while pursuing my education at Berry. It is important to note that at this time I was a very reserved and shy person that was not the epitome of a great student. Going in to the application process I was worried about my interview. First there was a group interview and then separately there were five different workers that were already on the Krannert Center Activities Board that interviewed. This last part of the int...

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... all situations provide pathways for the usage of impression management, but in the two specific situations I have given, I realized that I used the concept more than I initially realized.

Often times impression management can be used to manipulate a situation, person or idea, in to whatever the individual is seeking to gain from it. With a combination of manipulating ones values, roles and statuses, an individual can alter the way that others view them. My examples of the utilization of impression management in my own life help illustrate that sometimes you do not even realize you are altering who you are in order for things to go the way you want them to. I believe that it is important that individuals realize how often impression management is used so that everyone can be familiar with the process and can either utilize it themselves, or watch for it in others.