IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT

people form impressions of others and manage impressions of themselves at the same time.
the role-taking process is necessary when we try to meet the expectations of others. We categorize and use other information available to us in effort to take the role of another
social group membership (age, sex, race, gender, class, ...) suggests culturally defined expectations of behavior and values.
individual attributes take observable characteristics (i.e., physical appearance, clothing) , verbal and nonverbal communication into account.

Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959): goal of impression management is to portray a particular identity in order to obtain particular outcomes in an interaction (not necessarily always presenting positive identity or desiring positive outcomes)

DRAMATURGY(the study of social life as theater)

actors/roles
audience
setting/props
front stage (where we maintain appropriate appearance)
backstage (where we knowingly violate our impression management performances)
scripts
director
teamwork

Spoiled Identities: when we fail at impression management our identity is spoiled (credibility of our performance is destroyed) ... social order is disrupted .... we follow different tactics to re-establish order and regain our identities. Others help us restore the order (for example, embarrassment is disruptive and bothers others as well as the person who is embarrassed. We all want to cooperate in situations like these to restore order--> by joking we define the situation as unimportant etc.)

aligning action: (to restore order and a spoiled image)

apology (simple apology is sufficient when you step on someone's foot)
accounts (explains motives and attempt to help redefine or repair problem interactions or spoiled identities)
excuse (acknowledges wrongdoing, but denies responsibility)... caught speeding while trying to get a pregnant woman to hospital
justification (admits responsibility, attempts to define behavior as appropriate)... you broke somebody's nose in a bar fight but he started it, you were trying to protect yourself.
disclaimer (verbal explanation given before the fact to prevent complaints or accusations)... "Don't get me wrong, I am not a racist but it bothers me a great deal when people from Africa say/do ..."

cooling out: when aligning action is not enough to restore the spoiled identity back to its previous situation, this technique is used to persuade the person into a less desirable but alternative identity.

Stigma: is a permanently spoiled identity which prevents "competent or morally trustworthy" behavior.
Goffman defines three types of stigma:

defects of the body (i.e. facial scars, a bold woman)
defects of the character (i.e. stuttering)
social group membership (i.e. young African American males)

*stigmatized individuals perceive others as evaluating them negatively and therefore they develop coping strategies to manage their identities (these help to maintain social order)

* stigma is socially constructed and varies across time and culture

group characteristics: interaction, shared goals and norms, awareness of "we"
social organization: established order in social groups--> provides regularity and predictability and holds society together
status: established position with a certain level of prestige (CEO vs. high school teacher vs. garbage collector--> all three are statuses people occupy but have different level of prestige associated with them)
role: expectations of others from a certain status (teacher role--> knowledge, compassion, authority, etc...)
we experience role conflict when different statuses we occupy have contradictory expectations (parent and CEO--> dedicated to family or work? What happens when there is an important business meeting but your child is sick?)
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