L15 - Self-Presentation Flashcards
what kind of impression do we seek to create? self-presentation on social media
What is a self-presentation?
Any behaviour made with the intention of influencing how other people see you
The process of constructing and maintaining a desired reputation
Is self-presentation automatic or controlled?
self-presentation tends to be automatic, not strategic
- i.e., no self-conscious attempt to control the impression made on others
- follows behavioural scripts/habits that have been frequently rewarded in the past
– e.g., smiling and listening attentitvely becasue these have led to past approval
- especially with people we’re familiar with and who know us well
self-presentation is sometimes more controlled:
- i.e., more self-conscious and focused on the impression we’re creating, including planning and rehearsing the self-presentation
- more likely when the audience is important and we’re uncertain about the impression we’re creating
– e.g., job interview or date
What are the characteristics of a desirable self-presentation?
Beneficial
- the actor views it as facilitating their goals
Believable
- the self-presentation can be credibly presented and defended to the audience
What does self-presentation stem from?
beneficial self-presentation
self-presentation is often motivated by the desire to be liked by others
rooted in evolution:
- a good reputation increases one’s chances of survival and reproduction
in modern times, a good reputation is also essential for smooth and successful social functioning
leads to pervasive socially desirable behaviour
Describe the public vs. the private self.
lab studies consistently demonstrate that people behave in more scoailly desirable ways in public vs. private
in public, people are:
- more generous and helpful when others are watching
- conform more and accept more influence from others
- work harder when watched
Describe Vonasch et al.’s study on the pains of avoiding a bad reputation (2018).
how far will people go to avoid a bad reputation?
Method: recruite non-Black students
- Ps informed that the university is studying implicit racism in studnets and that an email will be sent to the university community with the results of the study, including the names of the students with the highest racism scores
- completed IAT as a measure of implicit racism
- get fake feedback that they got a score showing that they are highly racist
- given a choice to endure pain instead of broadcasting IAT score to university community
– have to submerge hand in bucket of ice cold water as long as they can
- what did they choose?
Results:
- 63% of Ps chose to endure pain instead of sharing IAT score
Follow-up study
- 30% of studnets chose to hold their hand in a bucket of worms for 1 min rather than broadcast high racism score
shows that people have a strong desire to maintain a moral reputation and will go to great lengths to avoid a bad reputation
How to create a good reputation?
in order to be liekd, self-presentation is usually:
- self-enhancing
– degree of self-enhancement depends on the audience
- adjusted to please the audience
– conform behaviour to what we think others expect and want from us
– what is likeable and appropriate depends on the audience
– e.g., pretending to like the same band as your crush
– can lead to self-presenting in a negative way
What is self-enhancement moderated on?
the extent to which we are self-enhancing in self-presentations depends on the audience
- with strangers, we are generally more self-enhancing
– need to let them know how great we are
– e.g., job interview or date
- with close others (e.g., friends) we are gneerally more modest and more willing to self-present a less perfect image
– they already know how great we are so it’s less urgent to make a good impression
Describe Zanna & Pack’s study on dumbing down to be liked (1975).
do women minimize their competence in order to create a positive impression?
Method: female students at Princeton University circa 1970
Pre-test questionnaire: agree/disagree with traditional female stereotypic traits
- e.g., “I’m the kind of person who is very sentimental”
3 weeks later: “Impression formation study”
- male interaction partner will form impression based on info female P provides
- meet interaction partner to determine accuracy of impressions
- manipulated perceptions of the man as traditional/untraditional and as attractive/unattractive
- Ps then completed the following as part of info that partner will see:
– “Intelligence test”: anagram task
– same pre-study questionnaire about traditional values given 3 weeks ago
Results
- if man was unattractive, didn’t affect performance on intelligence test
- if the man was attractive, women conformed intellectual performance to what they thoguht the man would like
- if man was unattractive, no change in self-descriptions
- if attractive, women changed self-descriptions to conform to what they thought the man liked
What does adjusting self-presentation to please the audience imply?
evidence that we conform our self-presentations to what we think our interaction partner will like
BUT, this desire to be liked can lead us to self-present in a negative, problematic way if we believe this will please the audience
- e.g., minimize competence if the audience values less competence
- e.g., present in an inauthentic way that conflict with identity and important values
What is the dark side of self-presentation?
research indicates that our desire to be likes by others can lead us to self-present in ways that are unhealthy and detrimental:
- smoking and substance abuse
- malnutrition and eating disorders
- skin cancer, due to tanning
- plastic surgery
- higher STD infection, due to unsafe sex
- injuries and accidental deaths due to risky stunts
Describe Ronay & von Hippel’s study on taking a risk for a good impression (2010).
does the desire to come across as attractive lead to greater risk-taking?
Method: 96 heterosexual male skateboarders
- in front of a male experimenter, instructed to perform 10 tricks with a mix of easy and difficult tricks
- experimental manipulation:
– male experimenter: perform the tricks again in front of the male experimenter
– Female experimenter: perorm the tricks again in front of an attractive female experimenter
- coded tricks:
– successful tricks
– crash landing (failed): indicator of high risk-taking
– aborted tricks: indicator of low risk-taking
Results:
- Ps had more successful tricks when performing in front of the female experimenter, but also performed more risky tricks and had more crash landings
- suggests that the desire to impress the female experimenter led to more risk-taking and therefore more accidents
Why might self-presentations backfire?
when our attempts to get others to like us actually create a negative impression
-
Too obvious:
- ingratiator’s dilemma: we want to be liked so do various things for others to like us, but if it becomes too clear that we’re doing those things mainly in order to be liked, they are less effective
- resolve this dilemma by camouflaging strategic objectives -
Come across as bragging
- bragging is interpreted as a negative judgment about tohers, including listener -
Behaviour doesn’t match claims
- leads to perception of being unreliable and untrustworthy
Can self-presentations be used to achieve other goals?
self-presentation, whether positive or negative, can also be motivated by other goals:
- e.g., come across in an intimidating way to instill fear in others to get them to do what you want
- e.g., self-present as weak and helppless to get others to take care of you
- e.g., assert important identity even if it interferes with the being liked
– consistent with self-verification
describe how self-presentations are believable.
believable self-presentation
in general, people are pretty good at creating believable self-presentations
- e.g., when instructed to behave in an introverted or extroverted way, people are able to convince onlookers that they actually have these characteristics, regardless of whether they really do
in general, onlookers are bad at detecting deception
- even in close relationships, like between married partners
- even people who we think should be expert lie detectors like police officers, psychologists, judges, and job interviewers
