Week 2 Discussion Question 1 (M3/4 D1)

According to Erving Goffman, we all engage in impression management to control what others think of us.  Choose one interaction you participated in today and list every aspect of the personal front you used to manage the impression you intended to create.  (Refer to course syllabus for discussion board rubric before responding.)

Week 2 Discussion Question 1 (M3/4 D1) Answer

As mentioned, Erving Goffman put forward that social life is like a con game in which people control the impression people have of us (Ferris & Stein, 2020, p. 101). In his theory of the presentation of self, Goffman said people are like actors on a stage where “we play our parts and use all our communicative resources (verbal ad nonverbal) to present a particular impression to others” (p. 101). Thus, we consciously or unconsciously behave in accordance with how we want to be viewed by others.