February Blog Post

I have been introduced to a lot of new topics and ideas this past month. Impression management from chapter six in Communication: A Critical/Cultural Introduction, written by John T. Warren and Deanna L. Fasset was a topic that has stood out to me. Erving Goffman studied impression management and made the assertion “that we build an impression of ourselves for ourselves and others” (105). In other words, people attempt to influence other people’s perceptions about a person, object, or event. Individuals manage their impression by acting differently in social situations and interactions. Why do people manage their impression? Impression management is prevalent in regards to the audience you are in front of. For example, one will manage their impression differently in an interview than they might in front of their friends.

Impression management is one of those ideas that I have always been aware of, but never learned the academic term for until now. I believe that impression management is related to most if not all humans on this earth. Personally like I mentioned above, I manage my impression differently at work. Usually when I am at home I walk around in sweats, a big sweatshirt, and have my hair in a bun. You can catch me using slang like “hecka” and “hella” when I am talking to my roommates and friends. That is my casual side, but when I am at work I manage my impression so I am perceived as a put together, driven, college student. I always come freshly showered in business attire. I am constantly conscious of my word choice, swearing or slang is something I never use at work. As you can tell, I am guilty of impression management. It is not something individuals should feel bad about, it is one of those things that your body automatically does and often times you cannot even recognize your own behavior switch.

It is important however that impression management is understood and acknowledged. Since most of us do it, it is vital we understand why, which brings me to my next question.  Why do we change the way we look or act in front of different people? Well, impression management relies on cultural cues and norms. Like I explained before it is common knowledge to be professional in your work environment. Individuals are not constantly professional in their everyday life. That is when impression management comes into play, we change the way we act at work because of the behavior that our society expects in certain environments and situations.  One idea to make note is, while managing your impression is a useful skill to have; it is important that individuals are not changing who they are completely in different environments.