Protective Self-presentation Research Articles

Identifying and Understanding the Intersectional Cues That Matter for Customers in Speed Dating Events

This study has investigated intrinsic and extrinsic intersectional cues taken into consideration by consumers when evaluating a product or a service at the intersection between the hospitality industry and the dating industries. The five main contributions of this study are as follows. First, the cue theory is a valid approach to investigate industry‐specific and intersectional products and services alike. Second, understanding of customer needs in the hospitality industry is partial, as existing research is based only on industry‐specific examples. Third, speed dating events could potentially be a competitive advantage for bars and restaurants. Fourth, online reviews are not always the most suitable and reliable data, as consumers are sometimes adopting a protective self-presentation attitude, particularly when frustrated about something. Finally, events are characterized by the types of activities participants are involved in: their level of involvement, encounters, and emotions experienced.

I feel so embarrassed, still, I want it! The self-presentational dilemma of counterfeit luxury buyers

PurposeThis study aims to examine whether counterfeit luxury buyers’ tendency to impress others overrides their anticipation of embarrassment or whether the anticipation of embarrassment delimits their self-presentational goals.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on three studies – a survey and two experiments that test the predictions. This study adopts a mix of moderation and mediation analyses to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe findings reveal a greater counterfeit purchase likelihood and embarrassment aversion among publicly (vs privately) self-conscious consumers. Furthermore, a higher (vs a lower) audience class and a conspicuous (vs an inconspicuous) brand lead to lower counterfeit purchase intention, and anticipated embarrassment mediates both these effects. To mitigate the threat of embarrassment, publicly self-conscious consumers are more likely to buy counterfeits among a higher-class audience when the brand is inconspicuous (vs conspicuous). They, however, are indifferent to brand conspicuousness among a lower-class audience.Practical implicationsTo deter counterfeit consumption, anti-counterfeiting campaigns must invoke consumers’ tendency to overestimate the degree of public attention. Ad appeals must accentuate the anticipation of embarrassment by enhancing self-consciousness through a higher-class audience involving a conspicuous brand.Originality/valueThis paper makes a novel contribution to counterfeiting literature by demonstrating that counterfeit luxury consumption is driven by countervailing motives of gaining approval and avoiding disapproval. The paper departs from mainstream theorizing by demonstrating that counterfeit luxury buyers engage in a protective self-presentation style by choosing inconspicuous counterfeits.

Fear of the dark: a cross-cultural study into how perceptions of antisocial behaviour impact the acceptance and use of Twitter

ABSTRACT This study investigates the impact of the perceptions of antisocial behaviour on the use of the social media platform Twitter. We extend the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) with the Perception of Antisocial Behaviour as a risk factor, and two supporting constructs: Strategic Self-Presentation and Protective Self-Presentation. We call this extended model Technology Acceptance and Use under Risk (TAUR). We investigate two groups via an online questionnaire, contrasting Anglophone countries (the UK, USA, and Canada, 200 responses), with Saudi Arabia (540 responses). In both cases the data shows that the Perception of Antisocial Behaviour impacts Twitter use, but not directly, rather it negatively impacts the influence of other factors such as Behavioural Intention – it also shows that this affects Anglophones more than Saudis. This indicates that future work should differentiate between different cultural groups, and different solutions may be needed to assuage users’ fears in different parts of the world.

Shameful Secrets and Self-Presentation: Negotiating Privacy Practices Among Youth and Rural Women in China

China, like the United States, has no defined concept of privacy in its Constitution and Chinese citizens have to work out how to negotiate their presence online, just as others elsewhere do. Online privacy in China has not received strong legislative protection compared with the U.S. and European countries as privacy has never written as an individual right in China’s Constitution, nor in the Civil Law. Chinese privacy perceptions and everyday privacy practices in social media have not been fully examined. This article presents an original, ethnographic study of how 26 Chinese youth, men and women, and 25 older rural women from Changsha, south-central China are negotiating what counts as privacy online in their everyday practices. It finds out that youth group in Changsha has a stronger understanding of the technical level of deployment of the social media technologies, enacting both positive and protective self-presentation instantiated by “human flesh search,” “public online privacy,” and “improved firewall.” However, the notion of shameful secrets touches on the protection of the reputation of those concerned, and social relationships play an important role in privacy boundary negotiation, common to both groups. This demonstrates that sociocultural contexts need to be taken into consideration and should be more nuancedly examined when studying online privacy and working out privacy protection methods.

Not using social media. A socioanalytic perspective

This research investigated Facebook avoidance motives from a socioanalytic perspective, by arguing that individuals' motives behind Facebook avoidance are the same as the reasons for using Facebook, namely the need to belong and the need for self-presentation. The difference is that these needs are pursued differently by Facebook non-users. We argued that these differences are driven by protective self-presentation strategies that should characterize Facebook non-users, and that these strategies should be reflected in the content of their mentioned motives for Facebook avoidance. We also hypothesized that emotionality will predict Facebook avoidance and that political skill will moderate this relationship. Political skill is defined as ‘the ability to effectively understand others at work and to use such knowledge to influence others to act in ways that enhance one’ s personal and/or organizational objectives' (Ferris et al., 2005). Using a mix of qualitative techniques, five dimensions of Facebook avoidance were identified: (1) Doubt, (2) Fear of rejection, (3) Fear of addiction, (4) Uninterest in exposure, and (5) Fear of conflict. The content of these Facebook avoidance dimensions was interpreted as expressions of protective self-presentation, being positively predicted by personality dimensions that are associated with protective self-presentation such as emotionality, irrespective of the level of political skill. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Hypnotizability Is Associated With a Protective but Not Acquisitive Self-Presentation Style

Self-presentation refers to the behavioral strategies a person adopts to convey desired social images of oneself to other people. The Concern for Appropriateness Scale (CAS) measures a defensive and fearful social approach aimed at avoiding social threats whereas the Revised Self-Monitoring Scale (RSMS) measures an active and flexible social approach aimed at gaining power and status. In this study, a significant correlation was found between hypnotizability, as measured by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C) scores and CAS (r = .43, p = .002) but not between hypnotizability and RSMS (r = .070, p = .631). These results suggest that a protective self-presentation style may incline certain individuals to cooperate with hypnotic suggestions.

Engaging in Less Protective Self-Presentation: The Effects of a Friend's Presence on the Socially Anxious

To cope with their fear of negative evaluation, socially anxious people use protective self-presentation strategies. We hypothesized that the presence of a close friend (vs. being alone) would lead socially anxious people to engage in more acquisitive self-presentation tactics. Results supported the hypotheses. With a friend present versus not, socially anxious participants presented themselves more positively to and selected more self-disclosing topics to discuss with a stranger they believed they would meet face-to-face. Friendship strength moderated some of the effects. Results suggest that friends’ support may allow socially anxious people to satisfy safety needs while engaging in less protective self-presentation.

Acquisitive or protective self-presentation of dark personalities? Associations among the Dark Triad and self-monitoring

The Dark Triad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) is associated with interpersonal manipulation which requires skills in navigating through social situations. Thus, positive relationships between the Dark Triad and self-monitoring (acquisitive: perceptiveness, impression management; protective: protective variability, protective social referencing) were hypothesized and examined in an online-study ( N = 408) with (canonical) correlations and factor analyses. Results indicated that narcissism was related especially to acquisitive, Machiavellianism to protective, and psychopathy to both forms of self-monitoring, which supports the view of distinct Dark Triad traits. Findings are discussed concerning different aspects of self-presentation.

Protective self-presentation style: Association with disordered eating and anorexia nervosa mediated by sociocultural attitudes towards appearance

We tested the hypothesis that a protective self-presentation style (Lennox and Wolfe, 1984) is associated with eating pathology and anorexia nervosa (AN) and that this association is mediated by sociocultural attitudes towards appearance emphasizing the thin ideal. We compared the protective-presentation style of women with AN (N=17), partially recovered women (N=110), fully recovered women (N=73), and female controls (N=374). Ill women had a more protective self-presentation style than partially or fully recovered women, who in turn had a more protective self-presentation style than controls. Sociocultural attitudes towards appearance fully mediated the association between protective self-presentation and disordered eating. Protective self-presentation may therefore be a risk factor for AN and/or a prognostic factor. Implications for therapy and prevention are discussed.

Group awareness and self-presentation in computer-supported information exchange

A common challenge in many situations of computer-supported collaborative learning is increasing the willingness of those involved to share their knowledge with other group members. As a prototypical situation of computer-supported information exchange, a shared-database setting was chosen for the current study. This information-exchange situation represented a social dilemma: while the contribution of information to a shared database induced costs and provided no benefit for the individual, the entire group suffered when all members decided to withhold information. In order to alleviate the information-exchange dilemma, a group-awareness tool was employed. It was hypothesized that participants would use group awareness for self-presentational purposes. For the examination of this assumption, the personality variable ‘protective self-presentation’ (PSP) was measured. An interaction effect of group awareness and PSP was found: when an awareness tool provided information concerning the contribution behavior of each individual, this tool was used as a self-presentation opportunity. In order to understand this effect in more detail, single items of the PSP-scale were analyzed.

Protective self-presentation, sources of socialization, and loneliness among Australian adolescents and young adults

This research assessed the relative impact of features of protective self-presentation, key sources of socialization, and social anxiety on individual differences in loneliness among Australian adolescents and young adults. In Study 1, 281 high school students living with parents completed self-report measures of loneliness, self-presentation features (i.e., fear of negative evaluation, social competence), parenting style (overprotection, care), peer relations (attachment, teasing) and social anxiety. Peer and parenting measures were significant predictors of loneliness, independent of self presentation influences. Social anxiety also added to the model after controlling for all other measures. In Study 2, 170 undergraduates living independently completed measures of the same constructs. Paralleling findings from Study 1, protective self-presentation features, peer relations, and social anxiety had unique effects on loneliness. As hypothesized, however, parenting measures did not add to the prediction model for young adults. Implications of findings are discussed in relation to understanding loneliness within high school and university age samples.

Playing It Safe: Susceptibility to Normative Influence and Protective Self‐Presentation

Two studies support the usefulness of susceptibility to normative influence (SNI) as a predictor of protective self-presentation—efforts to avoid undesirable or assailable self-presentations that may lead to disapproval. Study 1 finds that high SNI consumers are especially concerned about avoiding negative impressions in public settings. They respond more favorably to protective messages than do their low SNI counterparts, but only when the messages pertain to conspicuous benefits. Study 2 suggests that SNI is inversely related to individuals' tendencies to exaggerate similarities to their “ought” selves and their willingness to portray themselves more favorably than others. Overall, these findings suggest that high SNI consumers are averse to calling attention to themselves, especially when doing so may lead to disapproval.

Why Drink Less? Diffidence, Self-Presentation Styles, and Alcohol Use Among University Students

Through the theoretical lens of the self-presentation model, this paper addresses conflicting results from past research on the links between the components of diffidence (i.e., high levels of introversion and loneliness, and low levels of self-esteem) and alcohol use among undergraduate college students (N = 548). Correlational and multiple regression analyses were used to examine whether protective and acquisitive self-presentation expectancies about the effects of alcohol act as suppressing variables in the relationship between diffidence and alcohol use. Results supported the suppression hypothesis. A negative relationship between diffidence and alcohol use was revealed when self-presentation expectancies about the effects of alcohol were controlled statistically. The self-presentation model may provide new theoretical insights into the links between alcohol expectancies and alcohol use. Implications for campus-based intervention programs are discussed.

And Then There Were Three: Self-Presentational Styles and the Presence of the Partner as a Third Person in the Interview

As a result of a third person’s being present in an interview, the interviewee can be motivated to change his or her answer and try to present a certain impression to the interviewer and the third person. Drawing on a qualitative interview study conducted in the Netherlands and Belgium, the present study examines why partners want to be present in interviews and what self-presentational styles their spouses use when they are present. Seventeen interviews conducted with eight families were analyzed from a self-presentational framework. Some interviewees used a protective self-presentation when partners were around, only to shift to an offensive style when the partner had left. Assertive and defensive strategies were also used in joint interviews. Contrary to expectations, several couples did not adjust their opinions and made no attempt to convey the image of a harmonious marriage. It is concluded that interviewees are subject to motivation change in some cases, which can undermine the validity of the data as less information is collected.

Self-presentation and consumer interaction styles

It is hypothesized that self-presentation and consumer interaction styles are interrelated. Specifically those people who adopt an acquisitive self-presentation style are expected to be more assertive than others with respect to requesting information, seeking redress, and resisting sales requests. People adopting a protective self-presentation style are expected to be less assertive with respect to these same consumer interactions. The results of the study support the expectations and imply the importance of considering self-presentation styles in understanding interpersonal influence and interpersonal communications in the marketplace.

Shyness and public self-consciousness: additive or interactive relation with social interaction?

Shy people are characterized as engaging in self-derogatory thinking leading to anxiousness and inhibition, while people who are publicly self-conscious are focused on the impression they create on others. In addition, public self-consciousness has been described as an antecedent of shyness. In the present research, we tested additive versus interactive hypotheses about the association of shyness and public self-consciousness with dysfunctional social interaction. Undergraduate men varying in shyness and public self-consciousness engaged in a conversation with an unfamiliar woman confederate. Following the conversation, subjects completed self-report measures focusing on their responses during the conversation. Only main effects for shyness and public self-consciousness were found, supporting an additive hypothesis. Shyness was related to all dependent variables reflecting a negative self-bias, while public self-consciousness was not. In particular, shyness was inversely related to the balance of subjects' positive and negative thoughts and to reported use of protective as well as avoidance of acquisitive self-presentation responses. Public self-consciousness was positively related to use of protective self-presentation responses but unrelated to acquisitive responses.

Claiming Depressive Symptoms as a Self-Handicap: A Protective Self-Presentation Strategy

This experiment addressed circumstances in which greater characterological depression is associated with public disclosures of depressive symptoms. Participants first completed a social accuracy test where they believed that an experimenter was either aware or unaware of the performance outcome. One half of them were told that a negative mood could handicap their performance on an upcoming test. When receiving such information, more depressed participants were more likely to claim negative mood when they believed that the experimenter was aware of an initial success or was unaware of an initial failure. Under both of these conditions, the self-presentational benefit of a self-handicap should be high because public success may produce a pressure to maintain a positive impression and private failure may produce a pressure to protect oneself from revealing negative attributes.

Dimensions of Social Competence: Personality and Coping Style Correlates

Many measures of social competence have arisen of late. Yet little evidence is available as to the extent of their empirical overlap, as well as their relationships with other individual difference variables. In this study we examine three constructs: functional flexibility, self-complexity and Lennox and Wolfe's (1984; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 1349–1364) Revised Self-Monitoring Scale and concern for appropriateness. Results indicate, at best, only moderate degrees of overlap among these dimensions of competence. Self-complexity failed to correlate with any other measure in the study. Functional flexibility yielded a pattern of relationships indicating, if anything, hostility and maladjustment, as well as a disinclination toward the use of passive coping styles. The Lennox and Wolfe measures provided a wealth of relationships that are fairly consistent with their portrayal as reflecting independent styles of acquisitive and protective self-presentation. However, some of the results suggest caution in accepting this interpretation. We discuss the various implications of these results.

Depressive self-presentation: Beyond self-handicapping.

An experiment was conducted to examine the notion that depressives' responses would reflect a protective self-presentation style (Hill, Weary, & Williams, 1986), the underlying goal of which would be the avoidance of future performance demands and potential losses in self-esteem. In this study, depressed and nondepressed Ss were asked to perform a relatively simple visual-motor task. Half of the depressed and half of the nondepressed Ss were told that if they were successful at the task, they would be asked to perform a 2nd, similar task. The remaining Ss were given no such expectation of future performance. We predicted and found that depressed compared with nondepressed Ss strategically failed at the task when presented with the possibility of future performance and further losses in esteem. Moreover, this strategic failure was associated with some costs; depressed-future performance expectancy Ss experienced more discomfort or negative affect as a result of their performance. The relationship between this depressive self-presentation and self-handicapping strategies is discussed.

Protective Self-Presentation in Malaysian and Australian Individuals

The present study employed the Concern for Appropriateness Scale (CFA; Lennox & Wolfe. 1984) in comparing protective self-presentation in 159 Australian and 125 Malaysian subjects. Australian subjects scored significantly higher than did Malaysian subjects on total CFA and the two subscales measuring cross-situational sariabilitv of behavior and attention to social comparison information. Malaysian subjects of' Indian descent did not differ significantly from those of Chinese descent on total CFA or either subscale. No significant differences were found on the basis of nationality or ethnicity. The findings are discussed in terms of possible cultural differences that are involved in determining concern for appropriateness and the extent of behavioral adaptation to social situations.