Impression Management: Influencing perceptions of self

Impression management (IM) is an activity which takes place in many, if not most, interactions between people. As a vital skill in one's social life, it is used when people are directly involved with one another (such as occurs during a meeting within an organization, or simply on a date where only two people are interacting) or when the interaction is indirect and the target is not in the immediate vicinity (a journalist/news commentator, or even when submitting an article to a periodical for review by referees). Impression management is a concept that often conjures up negative associations, yet it has many potential benefits, including its self-regulatory function. It is this tension between the need to present oneself in a specific way and the positive evaluation that is engendered, often inaccurately, that makes the concept so intriguing. In the present chapter we will try to reveal some of the faces of IM and the role it plays in diverse areas such as social and personnel psychology, selection, marketing, and research