SS21 Lesson 3 Impression Management

Summary

This video script delves into the concept of impression management, highlighting how individuals manipulate their image to create a positive perception. It discusses the use of verbal and non-verbal cues, such as words, gestures, and body language, to influence others' views. The script also touches on strategies like conformity, excuses, and self-promotion to manage impressions. It warns against the pitfalls of self-handicapping, where individuals create excuses to protect their self-image, potentially leading to reduced performance. The video concludes with a reminder to be authentic while using impression management techniques.

Takeaways

• 😀 Impression management is about influencing how others perceive us to create a positive image.
• 🎭 The dramaturgical approach by Irving Goffman is a key concept in understanding impression management.
• 🗣️ Verbal cues, including word choice and phrases, play a significant role in shaping others' impressions of us.
• 🤔 Non-verbal cues such as body language, gestures, eye contact, and physical appearance are crucial in impression formation.
• 🕴️ Posture, like slouching or sitting straight, can communicate confidence levels to others.
• 👁️ Making eye contact is perceived as a sign of sincerity and interest in the conversation.
• 🤗 Crossing arms can signal closure or discomfort, which may affect how approachable one appears.
• 👔 Dressing appropriately for an occasion, like a date or interview, can impact how seriously one is taken.
• 🎶 Paralinguistic cues, such as speech variation, emphasis, and volume, can alter the interpretation of words.
• 🧩 Managing impressions involves a combination of verbal and non-verbal self-presentation in various social situations.
• 🎭 Strategies like conformity, excuses, apologies, self-promotion, flattery, favors, and association are used to manage impressions.
• 😷 The downside of impression management is the potential to wear 'masks' and lose one's true self in the process.
• 🤔 Self-handicapping is a strategy to protect self-image by making excuses for potential failure or poor performance.

Q & A

What is impression management?

Impression management is the process by which individuals control or manipulate the way they are perceived by others, using verbal and non-verbal cues to create a desired image or impression.

Who introduced the dramaturgical approach to impression management?

Irving Goffman introduced the dramaturgical approach to impression management, which views social interaction as a stage where individuals perform to create impressions.

What are the two main types of cues used in impression formation?

The two main types of cues used in impression formation are verbal cues, which include the words and phrases used, and non-verbal cues, which encompass visible and paralinguistic cues.

Can you provide an example of a visible non-verbal cue?

An example of a visible non-verbal cue is body language, such as slouching, which can indicate a lack of confidence, or sitting up straight, which can suggest confidence.

What is the significance of eye contact in impression management?

Eye contact is significant in impression management as it can make a person appear more sincere and interested in the conversation, thus influencing how they are perceived by others.

How does physical appearance play a role in impression management?

Physical appearance, such as dressing neatly for a date or an interview, plays a role in impression management by affecting how seriously one is taken by others.

What are paralinguistic cues in non-verbal communication?

Paralinguistic cues are non-verbal communication elements that include the variation of speech, such as emphasis, inflection, pitch, volume, rhythm, and hesitations, which can convey emotions or attitudes beyond the words spoken.

How do we manage impressions in various situations?

We manage impressions by being mindful of our verbal and non-verbal communication, adjusting our behavior, and presenting ourselves in a way that aligns with the image we want to project in different situations.

What is self-handicapping in the context of impression management?

Self-handicapping is a strategy where individuals create excuses for potential failure to protect their self-image, which can involve making excuses before an activity to justify poor performance or to enhance credit if they succeed.

What are some common strategies for managing impressions mentioned in the script?

Common strategies for managing impressions mentioned in the script include conformity, excuses, apologies, self-promotion, flattery, favors, association, and opinion conformity.

How can impression management affect an individual's true self?

Impression management can affect an individual's true self by leading them to wear metaphorical 'masks' to present a certain image to others, potentially causing them to lose touch with their genuine personality and behaviors.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Understanding Impression Management

This paragraph introduces the concept of impression management, explaining how individuals manipulate how they are perceived by others to create a positive image. It discusses the dramaturgical approach by Irving Goffman and identifies factors such as verbal and non-verbal cues that contribute to impression formation. Verbal cues include word choice and phrases, while non-verbal cues encompass visible and paralinguistic aspects like body language, gestures, eye contact, and physical appearance. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of these cues in shaping one's impression and how they can be managed to influence others effectively.

05:00

🎭 The Masks of Impression Management

The second paragraph delves into the darker side of impression management, where individuals may wear metaphorical masks to present a desired image. It touches on behaviors like conformity, excuses, apologies, self-promotion, flattery, favors, association, and opinion conformity as strategies to manage impressions. The paragraph also introduces the concept of self-handicapping, where individuals make excuses for potential failure to protect their self-image. It differentiates between real and artificial handicapping and warns against the potential negative impacts on self-esteem and performance. The discussion concludes with a cautionary note on the importance of maintaining one's true self while engaging in impression management.

Keywords

💡Impression Management

Impression management refers to the process by which individuals control or construct others' perceptions of them. In the video, it is discussed as a part of how we manipulate how others see us to create a positive impression. It is a central theme, with the video exploring how individuals use verbal and non-verbal cues to manage this impression.

💡Dramaturgical Approach

The dramaturgical approach is a sociological concept introduced by Irving Goffman, which views social interaction as a form of theater where individuals perform and manage their impressions. The video mentions this approach as a framework for understanding impression management.

💡Verbal Cues

Verbal cues are the words, phrases, and language used by individuals to influence how they are perceived by others. The video explains that the choice of words and the way they are spoken can significantly affect the impression one makes on others.

💡Non-verbal Cues

Non-verbal cues encompass all forms of communication other than the spoken word, including gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, posture, and physical appearance. The video emphasizes how these cues can convey confidence, sincerity, and other traits to observers.

💡Self-Presentation

Self-presentation is the act of deliberately presenting oneself in a certain way to others. The video discusses how individuals package themselves using both verbal and non-verbal cues to control the image they project to the world.

💡Conformity

Conformity in the context of impression management refers to the tendency to go along with the majority or societal norms to avoid standing out negatively. The video gives examples of how individuals might conform to avoid conflict or to fit in.

💡Excuses

Excuses are justifications or explanations offered for actions or failures. The video describes how individuals might use excuses as a form of self-handicapping to protect their self-image or to manage how others perceive their failures.

💡Self-Handicapping

Self-handicapping is a strategy where individuals create obstacles for themselves to protect their self-esteem in case of failure. The video explains this concept with examples, such as making excuses in advance for potential poor performance.

💡Flattery

Flattery is the act of giving compliments or praise, often to win favor or make a positive impression. The video mentions flattery as a common strategy used in impression management, particularly within certain cultural contexts like the Philippines.

💡Favors

Favors are acts of kindness or assistance given with the expectation of reciprocation. The video discusses how doing favors can be a strategy in impression management, aiming to gain goodwill or positive impressions from others.

💡Opinion Conformity

Opinion conformity is the act of aligning one's opinions with those of a group or majority to fit in or be accepted. The video illustrates this through examples where individuals agree with negative assessments of a situation to conform with the group's opinion.

Highlights

Impression management is about manipulating how others see us to create a positive impression.

Impression management is often studied using the dramaturgical approach by Irving Goffman.

Factors of impression management include how we present ourselves and the use of verbal and non-verbal cues.

Impression formation involves making an impression on others through verbal and non-verbal cues.

Verbal cues in impression management include word choice, phrases, and the way we speak.

Non-verbal cues encompass visible cues like body language, gestures, eye contact, and physical appearance.

Paralinguistic cues are variations in speech such as emphasis, inflection, pitch, volume, and rhythm.

Managing an impression involves controlling how others perceive us through verbal and non-verbal communication.

Strategies for impression management include conformity, excuses, apologies, self-promotion, flattery, favors, and association.

Conformity in impression management is aligning with the majority to avoid standing out.

Excuses are used to explain failures or shortcomings in impression management.

Self-promotion is bragging about one's achievements to create a positive impression.

Flattery is a common strategy used in impression management to gain favor with others.

Favors involve doing something good for someone expecting a return, which is a strategy in impression management.

Self-handicapping is a form of impression management where individuals make excuses for potential failure.

Real handicapping refers to actual events that affect performance, while artificial handicapping is making excuses without a real reason.

Self-handicapping can lead to reduced performance and reliance on excuses.

The video emphasizes the importance of being careful not to lose one's true self while managing impressions.

Transcripts

uh good day everyone and i will add this

uh short video clip on impression

management information

so

let us start

so

there are um

as we know impression management is part

of how we

manipulate how others see us so that we

have a good impression to other people

impression management is usually

used in dramaturgical approach by irving

goffman

so

what are the factors of impression

management

there are factors such as how we present

ourselves

and how we

use our words

verbal and non-verbal cues but first in

impression formation

this is how we

make an impression to other people we

have access to others personality

through verbal and non-verbal cues as

i said a while ago

so when some verbal cues we use of we

choose the words we say

the the phrases we say

to

to influence how people see us so

nonverbal cues are there are visible

cues and paralinguistic cues when we say

visible cues this is the distance or bad

language or gestures or eye contact or

facial expression and physical

appearance and others for example in

body language if you're slouching that

is an example of you are not confident

but if you sit a wreck or stun straight

that is an example of your confidence

also if you use eye contact with the

people you are speaking

you are perceived as more sincere okay

and interested with the other person

in gestures if you close your arms

around yourself

[Music]

it's a symbol of

closure although sometimes it might be

because the weather is cold okay

and physical appearance example when you

go on a date or an interview if you

dress

uh in a messy way

how can you expect that you will be

treated seriously okay on the other hand

there are non-verbal communication cues

like paralinguistic use

which is an example in variation of

speech rather than the word spoken

emphasis inflection peach volume rhythm

hesitations as you can see in the

picture here

um the face here is it's not what he

said it's the way you said it for

example

if you say i love you

but you said it in an anger i love you

will the person believe you no even if

the words are very sweet but

the tone is not sweet so it sounds like

the person is angry

okay so

cues can

manage how we influence others

okay so how do we manage an impression

so we manage it by

managing ourselves verbally and

non-verbally to manage to impress sean

me present to others in various

situations

and to create a good and lasting

impression

it is everything you do in an effort to

control the way that others see you in

the image that they develop about you so

be careful how you use your words be

careful how you present yourself package

yourself to the world

by using your non-verbal cues okay like

in

the cartoon here we can see that the

person is

looking for a good job so or this is a

person in authority and in his mind he's

saying smile and make eye contact

to present a good impression to the

person he's interacting okay

so how do we manage your impressions

in the article or in the module that i

have given you there are

some examples like conformity excuses

apologies self-promotion

flattery favors association

and opinion conformity conformity is we

don't want to go against the majority so

we just say yes even if we don't believe

the majority

excuses as we

say excuses for example if we fail we

say that

um

i failed because i did not review okay

apologies saying sorry self-promotion is

um

bragging about your achievements but

this is not so much for filipinos

flattery i think is much for filipinos

when we flatter others to make a good

impression to them

or favors it's also

a common strategy among filipinos

young

doing something

good for the person expecting that that

person would do something in return for

us but more of

gaining a person's

uh good impression okay association and

open

opinion conformity

uh the problem with impression

management is that because of how we

want people to see us

we begin to wear masks

like for example we pretend to be happy

pretend that he's over her our pretense

that we are confident pretend that we

are somebody else okay so as you can see

this is uh

this um this cartoon has a form of humor

but it's actually

it makes us think what are the masks

that we're in public

also another

another

impression management

is

uh

self-handicapping it's

the way we protect our self-image and

the image

we want to present are to others

by making excuses for why we might fail

okay

and it happens before the activity

so it's similar to self-sabotage we use

excuse for failure or enhance credit if

you succeed

so

so what is self handicapping as you can

see in this curtain is it possible you

create conditions for failure to protect

your ego and keep yourself safe yes it's

possible and it's called

self-handicapping

so there are two kinds

real handicapping is something has

actually happened to potentially affect

your performance like for example you

fell ill or you got an injury oh okay

i'm sick so i cannot perform well in

in school that's real handicapping

artifa artificial handicapping is making

excuse for potentially poor performance

for example

saying you're sick when you aren't okay

can lead to poor self-esteem and excuses

can be relied on too heavily

so self-handicapping can lead to a

reduced performance

oh i'm sorry this is pixelize but the

the curtains here is saying uh this

person is saying

uh my the night before is all i need

this person has an exam what's uh she's

right i'm going to feel anyway so the

person has

a belief that he's going to fail

anyway so he's making reason excuses

so in the end the person says at least

she thinks i'm not stupid but this won't

get me into grad school

another cartoon here is that

this to our students and one is saying

that chemistry test was impossible the

other person was saying totally

impossible i'm not

the person said again it was ridiculous

completely ridiculous as you can see

it's conformity

but it's a form of self-handicapping

and the person said there wasn't a

single question that wasn't even

remotely doable not a one the other one

is conforming

and the other person said good thing we

didn't waste a lot of time studying for

it no kidding so

as you can see this is a form of

excuse so this is

making excuses is a form of

self-handicapping

and not performing to your

um

utmost behavior okay or performance

so as we have seen in this video we saw

some

self

impressions management information and

the worst is self handicapping as you

can see there are good

good ways and bad ways but again as we

use self-impression management be

careful not to lose

your true self

and

use carefully verbal communication and

non-verbal communication

in how you present yourselves to

others so thank you for listening and i

hope you learned something from

this