

It is by far the most prevalent motivation for impression management. It evolves from people becoming aware of how they are viewed by others and seeking a change in people’s perception.

This may be as a result of social norms, expectations, and restrictions. It is mainly influenced by the desire to be in total control of one’s behavior and identity. It is not motivated by any type of reward but rather stems from within. This is quite different from the first one. Apart from seeking a raise, he/ she may be looking for acceptance, more friends, or even respect.
Self impression management definition skin#
Such a person may have been trying as many skin ointments as possible and praising them to customers. A good example is a sales attendant who tells a customer that she uses a given ointment and even explains how it has helped her skin to win her trust, sell more, and get a raise. Therefore, we may be compelled to manage other people’s perception about us to get something from them, which serve as an instrumental purpose. The result of any instrumental motivation is the gaining of rewards. Most of the time, we care about what others think of us and use that as we go about our everyday business. This revolves around the desire for increased self-esteem. These are broken down into the instrumental and the expressive. There are two main motives behind managing the impressions of others. You need to understand why impression management is a common phenomenon and why most people in power do it. Stigmatization, prosocial behavior, among many others. While one line of research is mostly concerned with the factors affecting the impressions we portray, the other brings in self-presentational perspectives that have been broadly applied in conformity, leadership, social influence, gender. This is an exciting area in psychology, which has been extensively researched. It can therefore be a complete overhaul of the self or a necessary adjustment. This is a familiar concept in management and is influenced by the roles we occupy, the norms in the social context, individual values, how we think they are currently perceived, our self-concepts, and lastly, our desired and undesired selves. It becomes necessary when our public images can influence the attainment of desired goals for which impressions are valuable and relevant. This can either be conscious or subconscious. In as much as we cannot create people’s perceptions, we can influence how they see us and what they think of us. Also known as self-presentation, it involves the processes by which we control how others perceive us.
