Impression Management

8 October 2022

What is impression Management? Discuss the 5 strategies of impression Management discussed by Jones & Pittman. Do you think it is necessary for one to have this skill at workspace, discuss with examples.

Being social beings, humans interact with other people regularly, consciously or unconsciously making judgements about others from their experiences. First impressions are heavily worked upon at times, accepting the fact that first impressions do tinge the lens one looks at a person in their consequent interactions. Conscious or unconscious management of how others perceive us doesn’t stop with first impressions, rather one is actively engaged in controlling how one is perceived by others. This regulation of the impressions others form of us is referred to as Impression management.

Jones and Pitmann have proposed five strategies one employs in Impression management which are, self-promotion, ingratiation, exemplification, intimidation, and supplication. Each of these strategies is applied by individuals according to the outcome they are aiming to achieve. Thereby giving an idea of life being all about a presentation of self for a desired outcome.

Self-promotion is often used to show oneself as competent. This is done by describing one’s strengths and capabilities to make the other person understand one’s value. This could be seen in the admission interviews to institutions or universities, job interviews et cetera, whose goals are considerably immediate in nature. Self-promotion also usually flourishes when the probability of one’s claims being challenged or discredited is low. It does increase when one gets a chance to impress a higher status holding person about one’s competence.

Ingratiation comes with the goal of increasing the extent to which a figure, usually of higher power, likes one. When there is a power dynamic involved between two parties, the more difference in power leads to the lower one imitating the behaviours and values of the higher one. Opinion conformity also comes in here and can be an effective tool to increase the attractiveness of one in the other’s perception.

Exemplification is done with the aim to advertise how hard one is working unlike others. This includes, one actually making real sacrifices (self-sacrifice) and working hard but with the intention to show it to others. Intimidation is used to make others comply with one's agreement. This strategy makes the other person feel the threat and danger one can be, thereby, agreeing to one’s deal. In contrast, supplication is used to activate the social norm of helping a person in need by showcasing oneself to be weak and dependent on others who are more powerful than oneself. Usually, one employs this strategy when one is not able to use any of the other strategies. It's important to be cautious while using this strategy as overuse can lead to significant decrease in one’s self-esteem when admitting one’s incompetence.

I think we are unconsciously already trying to present ourselves in a particular way to different people and therefore, understanding more about our self-presentation can help us have better interactions with people at workspace. This skill could help one to have goal-oriented and focussed interactions at their workspace thereby, accelerating their productivity. For example, regulating others' perception of oneself at workspace can help avoid unwanted or uncomfortable interactions like oversharing or breach of privacy. If the person is in a position of power, it also helps one to protect oneself from their non-professional information being used against one. I believe that though Impression management can be beneficial to an individual at workspace, it needs to be moderated in a healthy way. It's important to know one’s goal and use impression management just enough to reach it and not abuse this skill.