Self-Presentation

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Logistics

• Final exam:• Monday, 12/8, 5:30-8:30PM Hamerschlag B103• ~6-7 quiz-like question = ~ 2 hours• Pizza served

• Wikipedia• You should have made your Wikipedia edits to the

live article• Post a pdf of original state of article & your final

version & your reflection essay in http://orgcom14.hciresearch.org/forums/final-wikipedia-article-essay

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Erving Goffman's Dramaturgical Thesis(The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life)

• In virtually everything we do, we are aware of its effects on audiences

• Therefore, we stage our behavior to have appropriate effects -- to create and save 'face'.

• We organize our own performance, the settings in which we orchestrate them, and the teams that support us strategically to create an impression of ourselves to present to an audience.

• Organizations have similar motives & stage their employee’s behavior in similar ways

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Self-presentation• Constantly giving off statements about who we are• Some are explicitly communicative, at the individual

& group levels (i.e., we try to control the message that is conveyed)

• Some implicitly communicative, based on deeply ingrained behavior about how the type of person we are is supposed to behave• E.g., Gender-related behavior• E.g., Constraints on norm violations

• Some may be partially-genetic, with universal, innate meanings• E.g., Embarrassment displays• E.g., Smiles

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• Gain personal advantage: Manipulate audience to achieve personal ends

• Establish identify and esteem: Show that you are playing your part well

• Show commitment to the social order: Sincerity show that you are agreeing to many unspoken values

• Social economy: Provide cues to agreed upon definition of situation, so everyone knows his/her part

Functions of self presentation

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Types of Messages

• Stable individual characteristics: Role, status, competence

• State: Emotion, attention, respect, regret, embarrassment

• Relationship vis-a-vis another: Dominance, "with-ness", intimacy

• ...

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Signaling Occupation

What are the occupations?

MD student receptionist flight attendant director

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Signaling social status

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Signaling desirability: Good looks on OKCupid

Good looks more messages & replies

Applies to women & men, but effect is stronger for women

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How you pose makes a difference• FACIAL ATTITUDE. Smiling? Stare straight ahead? Do that flirty lip-pursing

thing?• SKIN. How much skin is the person showing? How much face? How much

breasts? How much ripped abs? • PHOTO CONTEXT. Alcohol? Pet? Outdoors? In a bedroom?

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Effects of Facial Attitude: Women

• Women get more contacts• Look at camera• Smile• Flirty face

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Effects of Facial Attitude: Men

• Men get more contacts• Look away• No smile

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Body images

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Self-Presentation On Dating Website

• Recruiting 80 users in NYC of 4 online dating sites• Compared their printed profile with onsite measurements• Deception if

• Height varied by > .5 inches• Weight varied by > 5 pounds• Age varied at all

• Deception most likely with less attractive photos

• Hancock, J. T., Toma, C., & Ellison, N. (2007). The truth about lying in online dating profiles. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, 449-452.

• Toma, C. L., & Hancock, J. T. (2010). Looks and lies: The role of physical attractiveness in online dating self-presentation and deception. Communication Research, 37(3), 335-351.

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Sincerity

• Actors can be cynical about their performances or sincere

• Process of self awareness is similar in either case• Except in passion, we are aware of the effects of

our performances & try to make them consistent with the line we are enacting

• Representation of an activity will vary in some degree from activity itself and will invariably misrepresent it

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Signaling Gender for Transgendered Woman (t-girls)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWJshfx9bTw

Feminine hand movementsFeminine talking

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Walking like a woman

The feminine walk is one of the hardest things to conquer when making your transition to femininity. …! It just takes practice and a lot of focus.:

• Women have a natural flow when they walk because of estrogen. Estrogen allows a woman to have increased flexibility in her joints which causes that graceful feline movement.

• Women have larger hips and longer legs which allow them to have a slight twist when they walk.

• Women walk are shorter and have slender shoulders which allows them to walk with shoulders back and head straight unlike men who lean down slightly.

• Women walk with their feet moving inward while men walk with their feet going straight; in a line.

The goal is to produce a natural walk with fluidity and a slight jiggle. There are many ways to achieve this, some t-girls take HRT to help Mother Nature correct their walk. Others practice, practice, practice by walking in heels with their legs close together, rotating their hips and shoulders while standing up straight.

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• Setting: The configured physical environment to support a performance

• Personal front: The accoutrements (e.g. clothes and accessories) one uses to support a performance

• Line: Consistent package of verbal & nonverbal behavior expressing a view of situation and especially one's self

• Manner: Style of interaction with others consistent with the self being presented

• Teams: Coordinated, mutually supported performances designed to display a common self presentation towards an audience

Mechanisms for self-presentation

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The Sting (1973)

• When a mutual friend is killed by a mob boss, two con men, one experienced and one young try to get even by pulling off the big con on the mob boss

• Director: George Roy Jones• Writer: David Ward• Stars:

• Paul Newman

• Robert Redford

• Robert Shaw

• Best picture + 6 other academy awards, 1973

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Dress for Success Personal Front - Job Interviews

Women1.A well coordinated suit. Navy, grey, black, or

any other "non-loud" color. No slacks!

2.A long sleeve blouse in a complimentary color. White, cream, pastel.

3.Neutral or skin-tone hosiery.

4.Moderate matching shoes with a medium heel.

5.Subdued, sparse natural make-up and light perfume.

6.Neat and professional hair style. No pony tails.

7.Sparse jewelry.

8.Manicured nails with light or clear nail polish.

9.A leather portfolio or slim brief case.

Men1.A traditional conservative suit. Navy, grey,

black, or any other "non-loud" color.

2.A white long sleeve shirt with a conservative tie.

3.Professional dress shoes with black over-the-calf socks.

4.Neat and professional hair style, clean shaven, or trimmed facial hair.

5.A watch and ONE ring. Leave the earring at home.

6.Light after shave or cologne.

7.Trimmed and clean nails.

8.A leather portfolio or slim brief case.

Women and Men* Keep the pierced body parts covered up if possible.

* Shower, wash your hair, brush and floss your teeth, and use deodorant

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“Interview Suits” (Flickr)

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Line: Ways of behaving

Tie signs: Showing the “with” relationship

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Smiling as self-presentation

• LaFrance et al meta analysis • Quantitative review of 162 published article

• Women smile more than men• Average effect size = .41

• Why does this occur? • Biological• Self presentation• What variables moderate the difference in smiling?

• If self-presentation, expect difference in size of effect in different social settings

LaFrance, M., Hecht, M. A., & Paluck, E. L. (2003). The contingent smile: A meta-analysis of sex differences in smiling. Psychological Bulletin, 129(2), 305–334.

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Smiling on OKCupid

Women smile about 50% more than men do and make that flirty-face four times as often.

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When Will Difference in Smiling Between Men and Women Be Largest?

• If sex difference in smiling is the result of self-presentation, then differences are largest:• When people are on display• When people are trying to hide negative emotion• When behavior is not scripted the same for men

and women by role or intent

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People on Display

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

No awareness of observation

Knowledge of observation

Salient awareness of observation

No social interaction

Social interaction

No "get acquainted' instructions

"Get acquainted' instructions

Effect size (d)

• Logic: Gender differences more likely to appear when people are on display.• Effect size = difference in smiling rate for women vs men in SD units

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Team impression management

• Coordinated, mutually supported performances designed to display a common presentation towards an audience

• Any member can give away the show for them all

• House of Games clip

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House of Games (1987)

• A psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men. • Director & writer: David

Mamet• Stars: Lindsay Crouse, Joe

Mantegna and Mike Nussbaum |

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How do teams cooperate to produce a single definition of a situation

• Bound by reciprocal dependence & familiarity

• Team definition of the situation is often thinner than individuals', since they need to compromise• Use back region for staging

& solidarity maintenance• Get teammates you can trust - e.g.,

no kids, socialization• Home court advantage props &

setting• Limit audience's exposure - e.g.,

awe (rock stars), distance

Back region in diner

Pickpocket team

Organizational Self-Presentation

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Organizational impression management

Organizations often attempt to foster views of themselves that managers believe fosters the

corporate self-interest

• Explicitly manipulated through corporate image campaigns• Steady state: e.g., Exxon's environmental ads, Ronald

McDonald House• Crisis: e.g., “Oil Doesn’t Want Focus on Big Profit”

• Implicitly manipulated through symbols visible to the public• e.g., Names, logos, building styles

• Implicitly manipulated through control of people meeting the public

• Receptionists, sales staff, service staff

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Oil Doesn’t Want Focus on Big Profit

• Gigantic oil companies generally do not enjoy the best PR. Pick your poison: Oil companies have caused tanker spills, proposed drilling into the Arctic wildlife ranges, crafted ties to shady nations and meddled in the affairs of others, and produced products that pollute.

• To deflect the damage, the energy industry is relying on an ad campaign that was escalating even before hurricanes Katrina and Rita blitzed Gulf Coast petroleum refineries. The print and television ads are designed to educate consumers and lawmakers with a "we're all in this together" tone.

• BP has taken out seven large issue ads so far this year, compared with zero through the same time last year. Exxon Mobil has had 19 so far this year, compared with 12 last year. For Chevron Corp., it's 17 ads so far this year, compared with six last year.

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EXXON corporate image ads

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EXXON Environment PR

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EXXON Woman and Leadership

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Impression management at Xerox• Professional image for Xerox repair

• Mechanics who dress like businessmen/women

• Behavioral image

• Friendliness toward audience, so they will

discount

lapses of competence

• Exude competence

• Fix any machine you touch

• Avoid broken calls

• Functions of impression management

• Customer loyalty

• Performance evaluation of individual technicians

• Controlling customer behavior vis a vis the machine

What is strange about this pix?

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Flight attendant

• Emotional work is compelled by the company to please clients

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The Disney Smile Factory

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Some of the employees

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Impression Management at Disney

• What is the message?

• Why: Functions

• How does Disney enforce this?

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Impression Management at Disney

• What is the message?• Appear neat & proper• Staff at Disney should

act calm & upbeat• Act courteously

• Functions• To help customers

enjoy themselves (if the staff is happy so too will the ‘guests’)

• To maintain Disney’s “family friendly” image

• Crowd control• For company

• For self

• How does Disney enforce this?

• Selection of clean-cut kids

• Training• Day long schoolhouse

• 40 hr apprenticeship

• Handbook

• Scripted interaction• Uniforms

• Dialog

• Surveillance & public sanctions

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Impression Management Among Bill Collectors

•Function•Increase debtor's motivation to pay by manipulating his/her emotions•Route: Telephone collector displays “appropriate,” motivating emotions•Must show appropriate demeanor & control internal state

Debtor's demeanor

Collector's likely feeling

Collector's normative display

Mildly irriated/anxious

Arousal + irritation

Urgency (arousal + irritation)

Extrem ely anxious

Warm th/ sym pathy

Warm th/sym pathy

Indifferent Arousal + irritation

Urgency

Friendly Warm th/ sym pathy

Urgency

Sad Sym pathy Urgency

Angry Anger Warm th

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How Does Organization Insure Appropriate Displays?

• Selection• Recruitment• Screening

• Socialization• ‘Schoolhouse’ training• On the job training• Role models• Natural feedback from clients

• Rewards & punishments• Supervisors• Peers