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Copyright © 2002 by Allyn and Bacon
Chapter 4
Behavior Control and
Self-Presentation
Copyright © 2002 by Allyn and Bacon
Chapter Outline
What is Self-Presentation?
Goals of Self-Presentation
Appearing Likable
Appearing Competent
Conveying High Status and
Power
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WHAT IS
SELF-PRESENTATION?
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WHAT IS
SELF-PRESENTATION?
• Self presentation - the process
through which we try to control the
impressions people form or us.
• Self presentation is synonymous with
impression management.
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Considering only your physical
appearance, do you look:
• Socially dominant
• Kind and understanding
• Aggressive
• Intelligent
• Conscientious1= not at all
9 = very much
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To what extent do you make a
conscious effort to present yourself
in terms of:
• clothing
• physical body
• way you carry yourself
• hair
• car1= not at all
9 = very much
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To what extent do you make a
conscious effort to present yourself
in terms of:
• apartment/house/your room
1= not at all
9 = very much
• friends
• organizations/clubs
• other?
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WHAT IS
SELF-PRESENTATION?
• WHY do people self present?
• WHEN do people self present?
• The Nature of Self Presentation
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WHY DO PEOPLE
SELF-PRESENT?
• To acquire desirable resources
• To help “construct” our self-images
• To enable our social encounters to run more smoothly.
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Dramaturgical perspective- the
perspective that much of social
interaction can be thought of as a play,
with actors performances, settings,
scripts, props, roles, and so forth.
WHY DO PEOPLE
SELF-PRESENT?
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WHEN DO PEOPLE
SELF-PRESENT?
• When we think others are paying attention to us.
• When others can influence whether or
not we reach our goals.
• When those goals are important to us.
• When we think observers have
impressions of us that are different
from the ones we desire.
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The Spotlight Effect:
Cornell students were asked
to sit in room with five other
subjects while wearing a
Barry Manilow t-shirt.
esearch
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The Spotlight Effect:
The student who wore the
shirt then predicted how
many of the other students
in the room could recall and
identify who was on the shirt
esearch
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The Spotlight Effect:
The students who wore the t-shirt predicted that nearly half of the others would know who was on the shirt.
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Predicted Actual Control
esearch
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The Spotlight Effect:
In reality, less than a quarter of the other
subjects recalled who was on the shirt.
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Predicted Actual Control
esearch
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The Spotlight Effect:
Control students who watched the subjects on video closely predicted how many students would identify the shirt.
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Predicted Actual Control
esearch
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WHEN DO PEOPLE
SELF-PRESENT?
Public self-consciousness - the tendency to have a chronic awareness of oneself as being in the public eye.
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WHEN DO PEOPLE
SELF-PRESENT?
Self Monitoring - the tendency to be chronically concerned with one’s public image and to adjust one’s actions to fit the needs of the current situation
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In deciding how to behave in a
given situation, do you:
• Examine your own attitudes,
feelings, and opinions?
• Consider what other people
expect of you and act
accordingly?
• Are you good at acting?
1= not at all
9 = very much
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Self-monitoring
High self-monitors:
• Inconsistent across situations.
• Good at assessing what others want and
tailoring their behavior to fit those demands.
Low self-monitors:
• Look inside themselves to decide how to act.
• Don’t change as much across situations.
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THE NATURE OF
SELF-PRESENTATION
• Self presentation is sometimes deceptive, but usually not.
• More often, our self-presentations
focus on emphasizing our strengths
and minimizing our weaknesses.
• Because trust is necessary in social
relationships, people go to great
lengths to detect liars.
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Think of an embarrassing moment
you’ve had
Was it linked to:
• Appearing unlikable
• Appearing incompetent
• Appearing weak
• Other?
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Goals of Self-presentation
• To be seen as likeable (ingratiation)
• To be seen as competent (self-promotion)
• To be seen as powerful (intimidation)
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The Goal: Appearing Likeable
Ingratiation: An attempt to get
others to like us.
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Goal:
To appear
likeable
Express Liking for
Others
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Expressing Liking for Others
We express our liking for
others using both verbal
flattery and nonverbal
behaviors such as smiling.
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Goal:
To appear
likeable
Express Liking for
Others
Create Similarity
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esearchCreating Similarity
Opinion Conformity as
an Ingratiation Strategy.
How likely are you to change your
opinions to agree with someone
else?
Would you be more likely to agree
with someone who’s attractive?
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esearchCreating Similarity
Opinion Conformity as
an Ingratiation Strategy.
In an experiment conducted by Mark
Zanna and Susan Pack (1975),
women anticipated interacting with
a man who was either:
1. Highly Desirable
2. Not Highly Desirable
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esearchCreating Similarity
Opinion Conformity as
an Ingratiation Strategy.
And who held either:
1. Traditional views of women
(believing the ideal woman to be
a passive, emotional homebody)
2. Untraditional views of women
(believing the ideal woman to be
independent and ambitious)
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esearchCreating Similarity
Opinion Conformity as
an Ingratiation Strategy.
The women then filled out
questionnaires for the
male student to look at,
including one reporting
their own attitudes about
gender roles.
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Opinion Conformity:
Women about to interact with the undesirable man did not shift their opinions.
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0 Desirable
Man
esearchCreating Similarity
Amount of
Attitude
Conformity
(Shift toward
man’s views)0.0
Undesirable
Man
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Opinion Conformity:
However, women about to interact with the desirable man adjusted their opinions to match his more closely.
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0 Undesirable
Man
Desirable
Man
esearchCreating Similarity
Amount of
Attitude
Conformity
(Shift toward
man’s views)0.0
3.7
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esearchCreating Similarity
These findings demonstrate
that people sometimes
change their public
opinions to get desirable
others to like them
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Goal:
To appear
likeable
Express Liking for
Others
Create Similarity
Make Ourselves
Physically Attractive
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Making Ourselves
Physically Attractive
Attractive people receive many
benefits, including:
–They are seen as more honest.
–They are more likely to be hired for
managerial positions and elected
to public office.
–They receive shorter sentences for
felonies.
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Making Ourselves
Physically Attractive
Realizing this, most people try to
make themselves more attractive.
– In 1999, Americans had approximately
4.6 million plastic surgeries.
–Over 4 million Americans currently wear
braces or other orthodontic devices.
–People in the U.S. spend $33 billion a
year on diet foods, weight loss
programs, and health club
memberships.
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Goal:
To appear
likeable
Express Liking for
Others
Create Similarity
Make Ourselves
Physically AttractiveProject Modesty
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Projecting modesty
Cultural differences in modesty:
African Americans most tolerant
of bragging.
Asian Americans most likely to
project modesty.
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Appearing likeable
Sex differences in likeability:
Women more likely to:
• Smile
• Compliment others
• Agree with others
• Present themselves modestly
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Appearing likeable
Why are women more agreeable?
One explanation stresses socialization -
women may get more social rewards
for being agreeable
Girls become more nonverbally
agreeable as they move through
adolescence and learn social
expectations.
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Appearing likeable
Why are women more agreeable?
Another explanation stresses biology -
women have lower levels of
hormones that may incline men to be
more disagreeable and
confrontational.
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Appearing likeable
Testosterone: A hormone present in
both males and females – but
usually in much greater quantities
in males – responsible for important
aspects of sexual development.
People with higher levels are more
confrontational and smile less.
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Appearing likeable
We are generally interested in
being liked by people with whom
we want to start or maintain a
friendship and by people who are
in positions of power.
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Multiple Audience Dilemmas
We sometimes find ourselves in
circumstances in which we want to
be liked by multiple audiences, who
differ in what they value.
Multiple audience dilemma: situation
in which a person needs to present
different images to different people,
often at the same time.
Appearing likeable
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Multiple Audience Dilemmas
We try to manage these dilemmas by:
Appearing likeable
Segregating the audiences
Moderating our presentations
Presenting different messages on
different communication channels
Texturing messages so they mean
different things to the different
audiences
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The Goal: To Appear Competent
Self-promotion: An attempt to get
others to see us as competent.
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Goal:
To Appear
Competent
Staging Performances
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Staging Performances
Because successes are sometimes
overlooked we may seek
opportunities to stage
performances, or demonstrate
our competence in public.
Conversely, people who are
incompetent at something will
avoid public stagings.
Appearing competent
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Goal:
To Appear
Competent
Staging PerformancesClaiming Competence
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Claiming Competence
People rarely just tell others about
their abilities. Why?
– Interferes with projecting modesty
– Commonly held belief that people
who are truly competent don’t need
to claim it.
Appearing competent
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Claiming Competence
However, claims off competence are
appropriate:– when they are invited (e.g. at job
interviews)
– When they are second-hand (e.g. if
friend talk us up or if we show
people letters of recommendation)
Appearing competent
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Goal:
To Appear
Competent
Using the Trappings
of Competence
Staging PerformancesClaiming Competence
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Using the Trappings of Confidence
Good self-promoters often surround
themselves with the props and
habits of competence, such as:
– waiting to return our phone calls
– carrying cell-phones and pagers
– wearing clothes associated with
competence
Appearing competent
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Goal:
To Appear
Competent
Using the Trappings
of Competence
Staging Performances
Making Excuses or
Claiming Obstacles
Claiming Competence
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Making Excuses and
Claiming Obstacles
• Follows from the discounting and
augmenting principles (chap. 3)
• Some people go so far as to create
real obstacles.
Appearing competent
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Making Excuses and
Claiming Obstacles
Self-handicapping: The behavior of
withdrawing effort or creating
obstacles to one’s future effort.
Appearing competent
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Making Excuses and
Claiming Obstacles
Ways people self-handicap:
– Taking condition-impairing drugs
– Not practicing
– Consuming alcohol
– Choosing unattainable goals
– Giving competitors a performance
advantage
Appearing competent
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Competence Motivation
and Shyness
Competence motivation: The desire to
perform effectively
Shyness: The tendency to feel tense,
worried, or awkward in novel social
situations and with unfamiliar people
Appearing competent
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Competence Motivation
and ShynessCompared to shy people, socially
confidant individuals are
especially likely to promote
themselves:
– after their reputations have been
shaken by failure
– but not if their true competence can
be easily checked by others
Appearing competent
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Competence Motivation
and Shyness
Also, self-promoters often create a
social environment in which others
feel compelled to self promote.
Appearing competent
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Situations which increase the
desire for competence
Competitive settings such as
workplaces, classrooms, and
athletic fields.
Recent failures increase the desire
for competence.
Appearing competent
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Goal:
To Convey
Status
Display Artifacts of
Power
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Displaying the Artifacts of
Status and Power
• Doctors, CEOs, and other
powerful people have items which
indicate their position (waiting
rooms, fancy desks, etc.)
• Some people misappropriate these
items to gain respect.
Conveying status
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Goal:
To Convey
Status
Display Artifacts of
PowerConspicuous
Consumption
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Conspicuous Consumption
People often display their status
through:
– Spending lavishly on houses,
automobiles, and burial chambers
– Giving away and wasting money
– Being generally wasteful, even to the
point of damaging the environment
Conveying status
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Goal:
To Convey
Status
Basking in Reflective
Glory
Display Artifacts of
PowerConspicuous
Consumption
Cutting off reflected
failure
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Personal Associations
Basking in reflected glory: The
process of presenting our
associations with successful, high-
status others and events.
Cutting off reflected failure: The
process of distancing ourselves from
unsuccessful, low-status others or
events.
Conveying status
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Goal:
To Convey
Status
Basking in Reflective
Glory
Display Artifacts of
Power
Non-verbal
dominance
Conspicuous
Consumption
Cutting off reflected
failure
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Status and Power and
Nonverbal Expressions
Body language: The popular term for
non-verbal behaviors like facial
expressions, posture, body
orientation, and hand gestures.
Conveying status
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Status and Power and
Nonverbal ExpressionsCompared to low-status people, high-
status people are more likely to:
Conveying status
– Maintain eye contact when speaking
– Pay less attention when listening
– Interrupt others
– Place themselves in positions of prominence
– Touch others and enter others’ personal
space
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Gender, Status, and Power
Men, more than women, focus on
displaying status and power.
Conveying status
– Men are socialized to present themselves
as dominant and learn that girls prefer
dating dominant men.
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Gender, Status, and Power
Men, more than women, focus on
displaying status and power.
Conveying status
– Biology also plays crucial role
• Females in many animal species choose to
mate with males best able to provide food,
territory, etc.
• Men who have higher levels of testosterone
are more aggressive
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The Self Presentational
Dilemma of Aspiring Women
Women face an especially difficult
self-presentational dilemma:
Women who present their status
and power are frequently
disliked by both men and women.
Conveying status
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Threats to Personal and
Material Resources
People are most likely to present
themselves as having high status
and power when:
– Existing resources are threatened.
– Newly available resources lie
unclaimed.
Conveying status
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Different Strategies for
Different Audiences
Men present differently to other
men than to women.
– Less likely to be violent in front of
women
– More likely to buy charity raffle
tickets, etc. in front of women.
Conveying status
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Summary
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• Gender
Goal:
Appearing Likeable
Factors in the Person
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• Audiences of Potential Friends
• Audiences of Power-Holders
Goal:
Appearing Likeable
Factors in the Situation
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The values held by multiple
audiences interact to influence
how people get others to like
them.
Goal:
Appearing Likeable
Interactions
Continued
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If everyone in the audience holds the same values, people can readily sculpt their self-presentations to conform with them.
Goal:
Appearing Likeable
Interactions
Continued
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When the audience is composed of people having differing and incompatible values, more creative ingratiation tactics are necessary.
Goal:
Appearing Likeable
Interactions
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• Competence Motivation
• Shyness
Goal:
Appearing Competent
Factors in the Person
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• Competence Settings
• Impending or Actual Failure
Goal:
Appearing Competent
Factors in the Situation
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Compared to shy people, socially confident individuals promote themselves in exaggerated ways after their public reputation for competence has been shaken by failure but not if their true competence can be easily checked by others.
Goal:
Appearing CompetentInteractions
Continued
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Self promoters create social environments in which others feel compelled to self-promote as well.
Goal:
Appearing CompetentInteractions
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• Gender
Goal:
Conveying Status and Power
Factors in the Person
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• Competition for Existing Resources
• Availability of Unclaimed Resources
Goal:
Conveying Status and Power
Factors in the Situation
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The gender of the presenter interacts with the gender of the audience to determine which tactics work best to convey images of status and power.
Men typically use more direct, physical tactics when presenting to men than to women.
Goal:
Conveying Status and Power
Interactions