Essay Example on Self-Esteem and Impression Management

The effort to influence or control other peoples perspective on something or someone (including you), is called impression management. Most people attempt to make their perspectives consistent with their ambitions. Often we do a lot of things so that we can be seen in a certain way or make something or someone we care about to be seen in a particular manner. We do these things knowingly, and there are sometimes when we do it unknowingly. A common question that is regularly associated with impression management is what will he/she think of me if I do this or that? people usually strive to be viewed positively by other people. It is a known fact that other peoples views have tremendous effects on our self-esteem.

People often strive to control information to steer others remarks in the service of personal objectives. According to Jendrosch (2010) Self-presentation is a subtype of impression management where people attempt to manage the perceptions others form of themselves. When I was in high school, I had a girlfriend called Leila. And whenever I was talking to my friends and sometimes my dad about her I would share a lot of good things about Leila. I wanted to make sure that I present Leila as a good catch to my friends so that they can appreciate her and create an impression in their minds that she was the right lady for me. Also, when going to social parties and entertainment places where there were a lot of people, I would always spend a lot of time looking for the right clothes to wear, making sure my hairstyle is nice and looking myself in the mirror. And I would do these actions to make sure that people have a good impression on me. The interesting thing about me looking smart was that it gave me an increased self-esteem and self-confidence (Jendrosch, 2010).

There are times in which an individual feels the impression about him is not as it should be. Some of the behavior and actions of the people may be different from what you expect. While I was still residing in New York, there was this restaurant I frequently visited. This restaurant had dozens of workers, but there was this outstanding waitress I noticed. She was very charming, and sometimes I would visit the restaurant just see her. But unfortunately, she never seemed to like me, whereas she laughs and smiles with other customers she was always moody every time she waited on me. This bothered me, and I decided to think of a plan which would help me change her perception on me. So the next day, when I visited the restaurant I found her standing on the door to the restaurant, I greeted her, and I noticed she had changed her hairdo, so I decided to compliment the hairdo. For the first time, she smiled on my face. From that day on, we became friends, and we would laugh and make jokes whenever we met. In the end, I was able to change her opinion on me. Based on Branscombe, & Baron (2016) findings Impression plays a significant role in our lives, and managing impression efficiently helps in attaining desired outcomes and leaving a long-lasting perception on others (Branscombe, & Baron, 2016).

Sometimes we are motivated to engage in a particular activity to gain something or maybe avoid punishment. There are others we do because it is personally rewarding. Dan and I are childhood friends. Dan likes gym and often spends a lot of time there. In fact, he has been training and exercising for the past three years consecutively. Personally, I am not into exercising, and I usually spend my time playing music and studying. My doctor recently advised me to start hitting the gym since my weight has increased significantly. Now I am planning to start my exercises with Dan soon. The doctor is the main force behind me going to the gym; exercising is just not my thing, but Dan goes to the gym because he enjoys it and finds it interesting. What is happening to me is extrinsic motivation while Dan is intrinsically motivated. Extrinsic motivation help people acquire new sets of skills, and once they learn these skills, they may become intrinsically motivated.

Face to face communication involves listening to an individual to understand the meaning of a message while written communication is where a message is read by the recipient. I have a small tech company in my hometown, and it has a team of ten employees. Sometimes when I am speaking to them at my normal pace, the team members appear interested in my speech. In fact, I sometimes wonder if they are getting all of the details of my speech. Human beings tend to listen more than they speak. Although face to face communication is commonly used, it comes with some flaws. It is a psychological occurrence that the listeners minds will tend to wander. On the other hand, written communication gives the recipient enough time to take in each word as it is conveyed.

Nonverbal behaviors are significant in constructing perceptions. According to De Paulo (1992), Human beings tend to regulate their nonverbal traits and rarely allow unselfconscious and spontaneous body language which might reveal their feelings, dispositions or other internal states Nonverbal skills consist of many factors such a postures, movements, facial expressions, and appearance. Nonverbal behavior plays an important role in a persons self-presentation efforts. For example, the way we dress, always makes people address or treat us in a certain way. Therefore, to improve our self-presentation through nonverbal communication, we have to stay motivated and be free to express our emotions and behaviors freely. This is because studies have shown that nonverbal and verbal behaviors are affected by self-presentation motivation (DePaulo, 1992).

References

DePaulo, B. (1992). Nonverbal behavior and self-presentation. Psychological Bulletin, 111(2), 203-243. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.111.2.203

Jendrosch, T. (2010). Impression Management. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-8349-8715-0

Social Psychology. (2016). International Journal Of Psychology, 51, 1036-1106. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12351