The Importance Of Impression Management

Categorization is an action that many human beings unconsciously perform when observing differences amongst individuals in society. These differences are categorized and people are often placed into labeled groups. In fact, society holistically makes meaning of events, symbols, and experiences, which helps establish socially, stratified realities. The placement of humans into this system depends on characteristics such as race, class, and gender. Depending on a person’s cultural background, morality, and belief system, the person’s impression management, which perpetuates their identity, facilitates the placement of human beings on this societal hierarchy. This damaging inclination to rank people and the inability of human beings to accept …show more content…
Because interaction occurs on a day to day basis, impression management has to be used in order to portray the image they wish to display to society. Just as the categorization of people unconsciously happens, the use of impression management during social interactions is also inevitable. In a social setting, we dramaturgically act out our performance, which is the image that we want to sell to people, according to Erving Goffman. Impression management is often used to role-play a social status and is the medium through which people convey their ideal persona to society. An example of behavioral staging can be seen in the film “Le Haine” when Vince, one of the protagonists, stages his behavior to appear tough and threatening. During his backstage scenes, he practices his coercive behavior in front of a mirror so that when he comes into contact with other individuals, he makes sure to perpetuate his ideal identity. He sets out to portray a different social class to others. The final scene, when the violent cop threatens Vince and yells, “Not so tough anymore! Look at him!” serves as evidence that Vince’s dramaturgy and his portrayal of toughness throughout the film may have caused his own death. This shows how interaction between people display differences in how we perpetuate our own image and how we perceive that of …show more content…
“The social distance these students experienced early in their law school career produced considerable discomfort”, and this is not surprising at all (Granfield 132). After all, these students had to manage their impression differently in front of their peers in order to conceal their group affiliation. They lacked the appropriate “culture capital” and were forced to alter the portrayal of both their social status and racial background with their mannerisms and even the way they dressed. Their impressions and performance changed because of their targeted