Impession Management. It's negative impact and why awareness is important?

Essay by poisonivUniversity, Bachelor's November 2004

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Impression Management. It's negative impact and why awareness is important?

Impression Management is the process by which people attempt to manage or control the perception others form of them. There is often a tendency for people to try to present themselves so as to impress others in a socially desirably way. Thus, impression management has considerable implications for areas such as validity of performance appraisals and it is a pragmatic, political tool for one to build image and be successful.

Some of these impression management behaviors are consciously controlled while others such as eye contact and posture are often unwittingly expressed. We attempt to control our impression management behaviors because they are primary means of influencing how we are treated by other people. It is, essentially, spin-doctor.

Since Goffman, some have defined impression management negatively, as a form of impersonal manipulation occurring in very confined settings or as applying to a limited set of behaviors.

This supports a common misperception: impression management is something basically bad, involving actions performed primarily to attain upper hand over others, or to deceive them. However, most recent perspectives see impression management as a very broad and common phenomenon.

Process of Impression Management

Impression Motivation - In an employment situation, subordinates may be movtivated to control how their boss perceives them.

Impression Construction - Is concerned with the specific type of impression people want to make and they go about doing it.

Impression Management Strategies

Demotion Preventative Strategy:

1. Accounts

2. Apologies

3. Disassociation

Promotion Enhancing Strategy

1. Entitlements

2. Enhancements

3. Obstacle Disclosures

4. Association

Employee Impression Management Strategies:

Demotion-Preventive Strategy - For employees trying to minimize responsibility for some negative event or to stay out of trouble

Promotion-Enhancing Strategy - For employees who are seeking to maximize responsibility for a positive...