September Blog Post

I am going to focus my blog this month on the idea of impression management. Goffman argued that “people engage in impression management, observing that we build an impression for ourselves of ourselves for others.” What we wear, how and when to speak, and many others influence how we portray ourselves when dealing with impression management. In my Communication 221 class, we are currently talking about the idea of presenting yourself and maintaining a public self. Somebody’s face is the person they are showing to others and it influences how others view them. We are also learning about masks, which are used to conceal people’s faces. Basically the mask is used to conceal the private self, so that people can control how others see them. This all relates back to impression management because the face and the mask are similar in the way that they somewhat control how others view us and what they think of us.

All of this brought me back to the every job interview I have had in my life so far. When interviewing for a job, it is important that the interviewee is on their best behavior, dressing for the occasion, and portraying all of their best qualities that would fit that job description. If somebody is interviewing for a prestigious job, it is important that they do all of these things in nice business clothes, but this isn’t the same at every job. If somebody is interviewing for a job at a daycare or somewhere less serious with a more open environment, it may not be required that the interviewee wears nice business clothes and speaks a specific way. They may want to show their more fun side since they will be dealing with kids. This all deals with the idea of impression management because we want to build an impression of ourselves in a way that will make others see is in a certain way. This isn’t just for jobs though, people use impression management everywhere they go. A teenager would probably act a little bit different around their grandparents as they would around their best friends or their teachers. Impression management is something people do every day whether we realize it or not, and it completely shapes the way others think of us.