Impression Management- Being a fake

Impression Management
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Impression management can be described as the effort through which one is able to influence or control other people’s perceptions. Many people try being fake through impression management since it is through impression management that they get to give others the wrong impression of them thus making it difficult for the people to know the real them (Bromley, 1993). The most driving force that leads to impression management is fear. For example, in most cases people do not turn out to be what others expect them to be. As a result, that causes them to manage their impression since they are afraid of disappointing the others. In most cases people get judged and criticized for being the real them. Therefore, in order to escape the criticism, they opt to act fake in order to be what people want them to be. It is something that is very hurting but at times one has to do it in order to avoid being judged and also being discriminated against or even being hated by others. The self-senses become very fragile when people are criticized for who they are and that makes them make decisions of acting fake. In most cases, people do not choose to act fake but they are forced by situations and by other people as well. It is very difficult for a person to be completely perfect. At times people are expected to be perfect and that is why they end up acting fake since it is easier to pretend that one is perfect rather than being completely perfect.

People end up living lives that are miserable since they are always acting like not themselves.
Most of the people that have a low self-esteem also use impression management in order to feel better about themselves. Many people do not really feel good about who they are thus their lives are not comfortable for them since they do not appreciate it. They, therefore, look for ways through which they can get to make their lives better where they will feel good about themselves. That is when most people opt to act fake and that works well for them since they are able to act as they would want their lives to be. By that they are able to appreciate themselves despite the fact that they are not living in reality. In most cases, such people might be suffering psychologically about how they are and that is what contributes in lowering their esteem. They, therefore, decide to increase their esteem by acting fake.
At times people also decide to manage their impression in order to show other people that they can actually do better. That happens in a situation where one is despised by other people because of who they are thus they decide to be fake in order to show those people that they have a wrong impression of who that person is (Nguyen, 2008). By that they try to make others see them in another way and also change their opinion about them. Most of the people who manage their impression in order to show others that they can do better always aim to ensure that they are in charge of their identity and their personal behavior. They do not let other people dictate how they get to live their lives.
Another reason that results to impression management is the society. For example, many people want to fit in the society yet they cannot be accepted for who they really are. Most of the people who are gay in the society have received harsh treatment in the society and that has discouraged them from following what they want (Pagon, 1995). They, therefore, pretend that they are actually straight and they even end up marrying the opposite sex in order to show the society that they are not gay. However, they do not live a happy life since their life is usually dictated by the society and there are not rights that help them.
In the society there are very many social classes. People are divided into those social classes according to their power, and wealth among many other factors. Other people often want to fit into a certain social class in the society (Leary, 1996). Therefore, many people try fitting into social statuses that do not belong to them using impression management. That is mostly seen with the poor people since in most cases poor people try to act rich in order to hang around with the rich people and also make other people see that they are rich. However, that is a very difficult task for them since they do not have all the opportunities that the rich people do thus they will never be comfortable with what they have.
Many people also manage their impression when they are looking for power in the society especially when it comes to the politicians. Most politicians hide their real selves when there are asking people to vote for them. However, they completely change when they attain the power and that really disappoints the people that believed in them.
Impression management is also used in the workplace today in order to win approval. That is very common since many people ate the workplace often aim at gaining approval from their employees and their colleagues as well (Tedeschi & Melburg, 1984). For example, most people pretend to be so good at what they do in order to win promotions at the work place. However, that changes soon after they attain the promotion since their goal has already been achieved. Most people also tend to always come early to work in order for others to see them as dedicated. In most cases, they really have to struggle doing that since it is not something that they enjoy doing. They only do that in order to give other people a good impression about them. People who are intimidated at the work place also start acting fake so that other people can change their views regarding them.
Impression management is also seen in imposters. That is because they pretend to be other people thus they always have to try hard to ensure that they are able to succeed in acting like the original person. Most imposters are always after something and that is why they have to persevere the challenges of pretending to be someone else and also acting like that person in order to attain what they are after. They like it when other people see them to be good. That motivates them to act fake until they are able to acquire what they are after.
Impression management has various negative impacts in a situation where one tries to act fake. One of the impacts is that one will never get to live a happy life since they are not able to express who they really are. That mostly happens where the life of a person is dictated by the society. That is because one always has to do what the society expects them to do rather than what they want to do. Therefore, they live a sad life trying to be who they cannot be. Therefore, people have to stand for what they believe and also fight for it in order to ensure that no one gets to dictate their lives.
Another impact is that one will never get to accept themselves no matter how hard they try to act fake. That is because they will always be affected by their emotions when it lingers to them who they really are. Therefore people should try very hard to ensure that they are able to accept themselves as they are thus they do not get problems while trying to make themselves other people. By that they are able to live lives that are comfortable.
In conclusion, it is evident that impression management is a result of very many factors. In most cases the people that try to manage their impressions are always suffering psychologically and that is why they decide to act fake in order to deal with what is affecting them and show other people that they are actually better than they thought and they can do better as well. Most of them do not accept themselves and that is why they do not want other people to know who they really are. However, the society also contributes a lot since it forces people to be who they are not.
References
Bromley, D. (1993). Reputation, image, and impression management. Chichester, England: Wiley.
Leary, M. (1996). Self presentation: Impression management and interpersonal behavior. Boulder Colo.: Westview Press.
Nguyen, D. (2008). Assessing personality through interviews: Examining the role of self monitoring and impression management in faking behavior.
Pagon, M. (January 01, 1995). A person-situation debate: The case of impressions formed in response to an impression management attempt. Dissertation Abstracts International. A, the Humanities and Social Sciences, 56.Tedeschi, J. T., & Melburg, V. (January 01, 1984). Impression management and influence in the organization. Research in the Sociology of Organizations : a Research Annual / Editor: Samuel B. Bacharach.