impression management
Controlling others' perceptions
Impression management is the conscious or unconscious process of controlling how others perceive you.
People engage in impression management during job interviews, first dates, or social media curation—presenting themselves strategically to create a desired image.
The term comes from sociology and psychology but applies broadly: His casual mention of the promotion was pure impression management.
- self-presentationControlling your outward image
- dramaturgyArt of theatrical structure
- front stagePerformance space nearest audience
- back stageTheater's hidden working area
- saving faceMaintaining public honor
self-promotion · humble brag · psychology · self-monitoring · public image · social mask · sociology · emotional labor · microexpression · reading the room · social environment · job interview · interpersonal relationship · nonverbal cues · social comparison · halo effect · flattery · damage control
- first impressionsinitial reaction, snap judgment, snap judgments, gut feeling, gut feelings
- social interactiongreeting, hello, goodbye, hi, bye
- showing offboasting, bragged, show off, bragging, boasted
- Social Pretensepretense, facade, affectation, phoniness, insincerity
- social theoriesfunctionalism, Marxism, feminism, structuralism, postmodernism
impression managementauthenticity
Quality of being genuine
sincerity · genuineness · being oneself · true self · unselfconsciousness
impression managementoversharing
Revealing too much personally
full disclosure · baring one's soul · self-disclosure · emotional vulnerability · wearing one's heart on one's sleeve
manage, manager, impressive, management, impression, managed, managing, manageable, managers