How to Coach Yourself and Others Beware of Manipulation | Page 206

called self-monitoring. Another factor in impression management is self-verification, the act of
conforming the audience to the person's self-concept.
The audience can be real or imaginary. IM style norms, part of the mental programming received
through socialization, are so fundamental that we usually do not notice our expectations of them. While
an actor (speaker) tries to project a desired image, an audience (listener) might attribute a resonant or
discordant image. An example is provided by situations in which embarrassment occurs and threatens
the image of a participant.
Social psychology
The social psychologist, Edward E. Jones, brought the study of impression management to the field of
psychology during the 1960s and extended it to include people’s attempts to control others' impression
of their personal characteristics. His work sparked an increased attention towards impression
management as a fundamental interpersonal process.
Self, social identity and social interaction
The concept of self is important to the theory of impression management as the images people have of
themselves shape and are shaped by social interactions (Schlenker 1980, pp. 47). Our self-concept
develops from social experience early in life. Schlenker (1980) further suggests that children anticipate
the effect of their behaviours will have on others and how others will evaluate them, they control the
impressions they might form on others and in doing so they control the outcomes they obtain from
social interactions.
Social identity refers to how people are defined and regarded in social interactions (Schlenker 1980,
pp. 69). Individuals use impression management strategies to influence the social identity they project
to others. The identity that people establish influences their behaviour in front of others, others'
treatment of them and the outcomes they receive. Therefore, in their attempts to influence the
impressions others form of themselves, a person plays an important role in affecting his social
outcomes.
The media
The medium of communication influences the actions taken in impression management. Self-efficacy
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