Self-presentation Research Articles

To Access or Not to Access: Influencing Factors for Government Microblogging Information Seeking and Avoidance among Chinese Generation Z

In recent years, the effective enhancement of information communication effect through governmental social media in has emerged as a universally concerned issue on government governance within the social media era. As Generation Z represents the primary and frequent users of social media, understanding the factors influencing their behaviors regarding information seeking and avoidance on governmental social media platforms is essential (in China, the principal governmental social media platform is government microblogging). Employing the grounded theory methodology, 31 participants of Chinese Generation Z were recruited for the present study, and data were collected using an in-depth interview. The results showed that the factors influencing the information-seeking behavior of Generation Z towards government microblogging mainly include heuristic seeking factors (personal preference, emotional value, and following hot topics), systematic seeking factors (task demand and expert recommendation), and defensive seeking factors (defending stance, authority seeking, and impression management). The factors influencing the information avoidance behavior of Generation Z towards government microblogging mainly include heuristic avoidance factors (clickbait titles, content layout, excessive length, and high redundancy), systematic avoidance factors (selective ignorance and terminological density), and resource-limited avoidance factors (demand scarcity, time scarcity, and vitality scarcity). This study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the government microblogging information behavior of Generation Z. Implications for government microblogging governance, strategy recommendations, and indicates directions for future research are discussed.

No person is an island: how employees attribute and react to coworkers' approach crafting

Purpose Taking attribution theory as an overarching framework, the study aims to examine how employees attribute and respond to a colleague's approach crafting.Design/methodology/approach Two complementary studies, including a scenario experiment (Study 1; N = 114) and an online survey (Study 2; N = 220), were conducted to test the hypothesized model.Findings Study 1 found support for the attribution of a prosocial motive to approach crafting, which in turn led to more social support and less social undermining among observers. This mediation was stronger when the job crafter was perceived as less other-oriented. Study 2 replicated the findings of Study 1 and further showed that when observers attributed both high impression management and prosocial motives to approach crafting, the positive relationship between their prosocial motive attribution and social support for the job crafter got weakened, while the negative relationship between their prosocial motive attribution and social undermining of the job crafter was strengthened.Originality/value The findings demonstrate that approach crafting gives rise to specific attributions and reactions toward the job crafter, which enrich the understanding of the social consequences of job crafting in the workplace.

The Causes and Effects of Fear of Missing Out on Social Media

As the frequency of social media use increases, psychological problems such as social media misuse anxiety may arise. Perhaps many online users have experienced or are experiencing Fear of Missing Out (FoMO), so it is particularly important to explore the communication theories that underlie the operation of FoMO and its consequences from the users' perspective. After a general introduction to the origins of the term FoMO, Goffman's Theatre Theory, Self-Presentation Theory and Sociology's Social Comparison Theory are used to explain the reasons why mass social media users experience FoMO. Overall, this paper finds that social media users are interested in positive self-presentation on Internet platforms, people are always actively or passively exposed to massive amounts of information within limited energy and time, and Internet users are socially upgraded by the good life deliberately created by others in the social network, all of which may be facilitated to some extent by FoMO. At the same time, this paper also popularises the behaviour of social media fatigue caused by FoMO to show that FoMO is a staged process with antecedents and consequences.

#blacklivesmatter in the WWE: professional wrestlers negotiating kayfabe and authentic rhetoric through online political engagement

ABSTRACT In traditional professional wrestling, kayfabe involves the performance of fictional characters and matches as authentic. Such performances may involve a presentation of self that does not reflect a wrestler’s beliefs and identity, but circumstances may compel such celebrities to act in accordance with their authentic self. This article explores the circumstances involving the Black Lives Matter (#BLM) protests after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. This context is used to consider how professional wrestlers negotiate their presentation of self on social media. Various World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Superstars’ Twitter accounts during this period contained tweets in support of #BLM, along with content promoting their upcoming shows. This article’s analysis attempts to understand the wrestlers’ rhetoric of authenticity versus their rhetoric of kayfabe as they, like other United States citizens, wrestled with the social, cultural, political and personal ramifications of this event. While various aspects of the tweets suggest an authentic presentation in response to the circumstances, the extent to which these Superstars are just performing in accordance with the WWE’s brand remains a possibility, suggesting an extension of the kayfabe concept.

Theatre Econiches: Sites of Bounded Licit and Illicit Affordances for Behavior

This essay reports on cumulative observations and participation in material theatres and the human behaviours that these locales afford. The central theoretical stance is primarily from the standpoint of James J. Gibson’s theories of ecological perception and subsequent developments by researchers working from the same or similar points of view. The concept of presentation uses Sociologist Erving Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1956). Both Gibson and Goffman had been actors, and Goffman as an assistant athletic director. Nearly every sentence could have a citation from a relevant scientific study; but this is a report emerging from participatory observation rather than from those studies. A major basis is attending a dozen London performances each year from 2002 to 2024, excepting 2021. Likewise, reference to theatre studies is limited. Although recent decades of these studies show increasing attention to ecological themes, Cartesian separation of people and the locale continues. An exception is a 2021 doctoral dissertation that cites Gibson and a somewhat ecological position. Also informative and exceptional is Marvin Carlson’s Theories of the Theatre (1993) and multiple conversations with Carlson. The author hopes to stimulate tightly focused research that will further our understanding of our human selves as in seamless continuity with our econiches embedded in the local, global, and universal.

Self-authoring feminine Blackness through solo performance

ABSTRACT For those who hold the text of feminine Blackness, mainstream British contemporary dance has historically been a place of misrepresentation, invisibility, and loss of authorship. This article outlines an original socio-intertextual framework that expands the possibilities of solo performance as a space to self-author feminine Blackness. I draw on my practice-based, autoethnographic, and theoretical investigations, including studio explorations, sharings, performances within mainstream contemporary dance settings, and autoethnographic reflection and analysis. I draw on notions of intertextuality (Barthes; Kristeva; Ott; Walter), Black feminist theory in literature and media discourse (hooks; Lorde; Bailey), and sociological theory concerning the presentation of self (Goffman) and articulations of the ‘I’ and ‘Me’ (Herbert Mead). This critical framework and practice methodology map out clear parameters in understanding how feminine Blackness is constructed, read, and valued within British contemporary dance. It suggests how solo performance can be a playground for navigating and reimagining feminine Blackness, and that the practice of self-authoring is crucial to the process of decolonising. This article is an offering to the journey of decolonisation; an act of solidarity that provides perspectives and tools to begin to untangle and rewrite what is inscribed as a consequence of enduring colonial perspectives within British contemporary dance.

Impression management strategies in accordance with social role theory

Impression management (IM) is a process where individuals consciously or unconsciously control the information, behaviors, and expressions they present to others. Studies on IM that are based on social role theory have mostly focused on gender roles. However, there is a growing recognition of the need to expand social role research beyond traditional gender roles (Anglin et al., 2022). This study aims to investigate the influence of various societal roles, including gender, age, occupation, and education, on IM strategies among Jordanian public sector employees within organizational contexts. Drawing upon social role theory and existing literature, this research seeks to explore how different social roles intersect and shape IM behaviors. Data were collected from 927 participants via an online questionnaire distributed through convenience sampling. Nonparametric analysis was employed, utilizing the Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis H test to analyze gender-based and other variables with three or more groups, respectively. The findings suggest that while gender, occupation, and educational background can impact IM, their influence is often overshadowed by the broader organizational context. This study contributes to the literature by expanding our understanding of IM beyond traditional gender roles and elucidating the complex interplay between societal roles and IM strategies.

Social Determinant of Unconventional Resilience: Tactical Engagement with Impression Management.

Building upon our operational model, we will discuss findings from our ethnographic study titled "The Impact of Catastrophic Injury Exposure on Resilience in Special Operations Surgical Teams" to establish that impression management allows Special Operation Forces (SOF) medics to navigate implicit social status symbols to either degrade or optimize performance. We will use qualitative quotes to explore how Special Operations Surgical Team (SOST) medics engage in impression management to establish individual, team, and/or organizational competency to deal with ambiguity. To achieve our goals, we will: 1) provide a background on impression management and perception of competency; 2) define the social determinant of impression management extrapolated from qualitative data as well as use qualitative data to thematize various types of impression management; and 3) relate tactical engagement with impression to our metaphor of bag sets. We conclude by gesturing to the importance of impression management in orienting SOF medics' proprioception and kinesthesia in the SOF performance space.

Impression management in a crisis: A conceptual framework of listed firms during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study develops a conceptual framework for impression management for listed companies, targeting various financial information users during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, many listed firms faced financial distress and limited in-person communication. Our framework is based on various communication categories and types, providing insights for managers to adjust impression management tactics, which affect emotions and induce cognitive biases in their targets that may impact their decision-making processes. Our research not only contributes to the existing literature pertaining to corporate impression management and crisis communication but also holds implications for future studies.

Profissionalismo e controle disciplinar de terapeutas à margem

Abstract Occupational therapy’s goal of professional status comes with costs. Sociologists argue that ‘professionalism’ exhorts workers to conform with normative expectations for behaviour and performance, becoming a mechanism of social control. Those performative expectations are established by socially dominant groups, constructing occupational therapists from marginalized groups as not-professional, unless they can contort themselves to conform. Here we explore the specific behaviours and forms of embodiedness that become encoded as ‘professional’ in occupational therapy, leaving particular groups of occupational therapists subject to discipline through the concept of ‘unprofessional’. We conducted a critical interpretive synthesis of literature indexed in CINAHL and EBSCOhost defining professional behaviour in occupational therapy (n=26). We also draw from in-depth qualitative interviews with 20 Canadian occupational therapists who self-identified as racialized, ethnic minority, disabled, 2SLGBTQ+, and/or from working-class/impoverished family origins, exploring how ‘professionalism’ serves to discipline and control them. For both approaches, we employed reflexive thematic analysis. Texts encode professionalism as specific behaviours and forms of embodiedness grounded in white, western politics of respectability. Some also exhort occupational therapists to never make the profession ‘look bad’. In our interview data, occupational therapists from marginalized groups risked being construed as ‘unprofessional’ by having the ‘wrong’ bodies, appearances, presentation of self, speech language use, emotions, behaviours, and boundaries. When ‘professionalism’ demands assimilation to normative standards that exclude particular kinds of people, we narrow the potential of occupational therapy to encompass diverse valuable ways of doing, being, becoming and belonging. There is an important role for ‘professional resistance.’

Transparency about lagging diversity numbers signals genuine progress.

Numerous organizations pledge to increase diversity, yet few publicly disclose how diverse they are. We suggest this reluctance to be transparent stems from an intuitive (albeit often misplaced) psychological calculation: that revealing struggles to increase diversity will undermine one's credibility and reputation. We evaluate the effects of transparency about lagging diversity numbers across four preregistered studies (n = 4,483), using real EEO-1 diversity disclosures from S&P 100 companies (Study 1) and information about the representation of racial/ethnic minorities in participants' own organizations (Studies 2-4). Contrary to conventional wisdom and related research on impression management in organizations, we observe that transparency about unfavorable diversity outcomes signals the genuineness of one's commitment to diversity and thus increases perceptions of progress and trustworthiness. This research importantly synthesizes and extends scholarship on intergroup relations and self-disclosure and further suggests that, in some cases, the utility of transparency for managing diversity is misunderstood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Impression management in bankruptcy: An analysis of the narratives in listed companies

Managers tend to use opportunistically corporate narrative disclosure when financial performance is poor. However, there is little research on impression management in situations of extreme distress, such as bankruptcy. This paper analyzes ten textual characteristics of corporate reports at two moments in time, the last year just before entering the legal bankruptcy procedure (sick year) and five years earlier (healthy year). Specifically, it investigates the management reports of all bankrupt listed companies in Spain from 2005 to 2019. Our findings near bankruptcy only show behavior that may be compatible with impression management in relation to length and positive language. Litigation risk associated with bankruptcy may condition managers’ attitudes to using narratives in a self-serving manner. Our results are also robust if we only test the most financially distressed bankrupt companies. This paper contributes to the understanding of impression management in companies in conditions of extreme financial distress. Los directivos suelen utilizar la información narrativa de forma oportunista cuando el desempeño empresarial es deficiente. Sin embargo, hay pocas investigaciones sobre estas prácticas de impression management en situaciones de extrema dificultad, como en concurso de acreedores. Este trabajo analiza diez características textuales de la información financiera en dos momentos de tiempo, el último año justo antes de entrar en concurso de acreedores (año enfermo) y cinco años antes (año sano). En concreto, se investigan los informes de gestión de todas las empresas cotizadas en concurso de acreedores en España desde 2005 hasta 2019. Los resultados, en el año antes de entrar en concurso, únicamente muestran un comportamiento que puede ser compatible con prácticas de impression management en el caso de la extensión del documento y del lenguaje positivo. El riesgo de litigio asociado al concurso de acreedores puede condicionar la actitud de los directivos a la hora de utilizar la información narrativa de forma sesgada. Los resultados también son robustos si sólo se analizan las empresas en concurso que se encuentran en una peor situación financiera. Este trabajo contribuye a la comprensión de las prácticas de impression management en condiciones de extrema dificultad financiera.

Digital Natives and Signalling in Employment Interviews: An Inquiry into the Acceptance and Perceived Fairness of Different Interview Modes

The paper investigates the signalling behaviour of digital native applicants in employment interviews and analyses how their reactions differ in face-to-face versus video-mediated contexts. The social presence within the interview setting and the possibility of employing impression management tactics are of particular interest to understanding the subjective acceptance and perceived fairness of the two types of selection procedures. The analyses of novel primary data from a German survey with 513 valid responses reveal that digital natives, similar to older applicants, appreciate signalling to lower information asymmetries. Regardless of interview mode, social presence and impression management are strong positive drivers of acceptance and perceived fairness. While members of the generational cohort still accept face-to-face interviews more than those mediated by videoconferencing technology, they perceive the former as less fair. This result, which may be explained by the specific characteristics of digital natives, contradicts the findings of studies that have investigated preceding generations. Hence, the paper complements the literature on applicant reactions by focusing on two younger generational cohorts, namely Generation Y and Z. Furthermore, the adoption of the signalling framework in this context suggests that the beneficial effects of signalling may stand vis-à-vis feelings of unfairness, which can be interpreted as additional psychological costs that are driven by moral considerations.

Revealing or concealing: The impact of environmental penalty spillover effects on corporate environmental information disclosure

Abstract As a way of environmental protection, environmental administrative punishment affects the environmental decision-making of enterprises to a certain extent. This paper proposes the industry spillover effect of environmental administrative punishment, utilizes the variable factors affecting the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure, and puts forward the hypothesis of the relationship between the spillover effect of environmental punishment and the level and quality of environmental information disclosure, whether it is “displaying” or “disguising”. Companies listed in the heavy pollution industry are selected as research objects to test the relevance of each influencing factor on environmental information disclosure. The double-difference method is used to construct the regression model to verify the influence of government regulation on the level of environmental information disclosure, analyze the impact of environmental information disclosure level on the market value of enterprises, and the relationship between environmental administrative penalties and environmental information disclosure. The regression equation passed the F-test with an adjusted R 2 of 0.425 and the coefficient of EDI of 0.362. It passed the 1% significance level test, indicating that the level of environmental information disclosure is positively related to enterprise value. The higher the level of disclosure of the environment, the higher the market value. Whether the listed company is engaged in legitimacy management or impression management, manipulating environmental disclosure during this period has an impact on the level and quality of environmental disclosure.

Sizzle or Fizzle? Supply and Consumption Dynamics of Home-Cooked Food on Sharing Platform

To address the growing obesity crisis, governments are promoting home cooking to improve dietary habits. Home-cooked food-sharing platforms, a manifestation of the sharing economy, offer consumers healthy food options. While the economic benefits of the sharing economy have been extensively studied, little is known about its impact on non-economic factors, such as consumers’ health. To address this gap, we conduct an empirical study using data from a mobile kitchen-sharing platform and four controlled experiments to investigate whether the sharing economy helps consumers develop healthy eating habits. We use manual coding and machine learning methods to evaluate the healthiness of over 180,000 unique dishes and examine food provision and consumption on the platform. Our findings indicate that as consumers use the platform more frequently, they tend to consume more unhealthy food. Additionally, sellers who receive more orders and earn more revenue tend to offer less healthy food over time. Two controlled experiments prove consumers are more likely to order unhealthy food online. Furthermore, these experiments provide causal evidence that consumer food consumption patterns drive seller food provision rather than vice versa. Our results suggest that the sharing economy may have negative consequences due to misaligned interests between sellers and consumers. Fortunately, we identify conditions that may mitigate these effects in empirical analyses and two experiments. Specifically, consumers who choose dine-in options (as opposed to takeaway) and those who order for groups (as opposed to individual orders) tend to make healthier food choices on the platform due to impression management motivation.

Relationships between Machiavellianism and impression management tactics: the moderating role of emotional intelligence

Relationships between Machiavellianism and impression management tactics: the moderating role of emotional intelligence

A literature review on impression management tactics in CEO messages

A literature review on impression management tactics in CEO messages

Emotion regulation goals and strategies among individuals with varying levels of sensory processing sensitivity: a latent profile analysis.

Emotion regulation (ER) has emerged as a significant factor influencing the well-being of individuals with high sensory processing sensitivity (SPS). However, the interaction between SPS and the underlying mechanisms of ER remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to (a) identify profiles of SPS and ER competency using a latent profile analysis (LPA), and (b) investigate the ER goals and strategy use among each profile to better understand ER patterns in highly sensitive individuals with lower ER proficiency. A total of 813 Chinese college students (mean age = 21.53 ± 2.48; 74.41% female) completed the Highly Sensitive Person Scale, 16-item Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, Emotion Regulation Goals Scale, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the rumination subscale from the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. The LPA identified three profiles: "Low SPS - High ER Competency" (41%), "Moderate SPS - ER Competency" (41%), and "High SPS - Low ER Competency" (18%). ER goals varied significantly among these groups. The "High SPS - Low ER Competency" group predominantly pursued contra-hedonic goals and impression management goals, while the "Low SPS - High ER Competency" group focused on pro-hedonic goals. In terms of strategies, the "Low SPS - High ER Competency" group mainly used cognitive reappraisal, the "Moderate SPS - ER Competency" group leaned towards suppression, and the "High SPS - Low ER Competency" group preferred rumination and suppression. These findings indicate that higher SPS combined with lower ER proficiency is linked to an increased pursuit of contra-hedonic goals and impression management goals, and a reliance on response-focused strategies. This pattern offers new insights for developing psychological support strategies for highly sensitive individuals experiencing mental distress.

Demeaning extrinsic motivation leads to increased perceptions of hypocrisy

People who are extrinsically motivated are negatively stereotyped and are viewed less positively compared to those who are intrinsically motivated. As a result, individuals can strategically express their intrinsic motivation as an impression management tactic to gain more favorable evaluations from others. Aside from directly signaling their intrinsic motivation, individuals can also choose a more aggressive strategy by demeaning extrinsic motivation (e.g., “being motivated by money is shallow and meaningless!”). Across 7 primary studies and 3 supplementary studies (N = 3153), we document the prevalence of this phenomenon, users’ (mis)perceptions of how effective this strategy should be, and its actual interpersonal consequences across different contexts. Although being extrinsically motivated is negatively evaluated, we posit that demeaning extrinsic motivation would ironically make one appear more hypocritical and thus disliked, compared to demeaning other negative behaviors or explicitly praising extrinsic motivation. Furthermore, we found that these effects are stronger for those who are low in job calling orientation and high in socioeconomic status. In sum, although people might choose to demean extrinsic motivation in order to gain social approval, such a strategy often backfires.

Duplicity or Discernment?

Code-switching is the adjustment of one’s speech, behaviors, or appearance across various contexts. Sometimes we code-switch to adapt to the communication norms of different groups, and sometimes we code-switch from social necessity. In many cases, code-switching is not morally blameworthy. It demonstrates an agent’s discernment or practical wisdom in navigating various situations. However, not all cases of code-switching are compatible with a good moral character. Many cases of code-switching involve a kind of impression management or doublespeak that can compromise integrity. This article examines the conditions under which code-switching is duplicitous. More specifically, it explores code-switching regarding theological identity and plausible psychological and spiritual repercussions of code-switching for the agent.