"Out walking the other day, I met a former colleague who was with his dog. Politely conversing, I asked the dog's name. He told me that, in fact, his dog had two names, together signaling a former governor of our state, who was the man's ancestor. I mumbled something about that being a lot for a dog to live up to and resumed my walk."
"All too human, most of us engage in the same kinds of impression management, at least in certain circumstances. We feel the need to tell others who we are, so that they will adjust their visions of us and, ideally, treat us differently than they have been treating us to this point. In this post, I consider how and when we make claims of this sort—or have them made for us."
A casual encounter where a man names his dog after an ancestor shows how people signal status and lineage to shape others' perceptions. People often engage in impression management to prompt others to adjust their vision of them and to treat them differently. Individuals display 'badges of identity'—names, traits, associations, and life histories—as credentials that permit access to social spaces. Social identities include physical features, environmental ties, possessions, and cultural attributes such as political views, religious beliefs, tastes, and skills. Sudden changes in recognized aspects create dissonance for both self and observers.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]