Presentation of Self

Alexandra Coulton &Constance Thurley-Hart

Contents

Rules of Conduct Deference Demeanor Interaction between Deference and

Demeanor Alex’s stuff…

Rules of Conduct

Implicit guidelines that help determine our actions and interactions in the social arena.

Create obligations and expectations.

Substantive rules – e.g. Don’t steal things.

Ceremonial rules – e.g. Gentlemen, offer your lady-guest a chair.

Rules of Conduct

Problems can occur when these Rules of Conduct are broken. The impact of rule-breaking depends on the severity and frequency of the act.

These rules and our actions in regards to them help us to present a certain image of our ‘self’.

Rules of Conduct fall into one of two kind of acts: acts of Deference and acts of Demeanor

Deference

Deference: Conveys appreciation and respect through action (or lack of it, if deference rules are ignored).

Avoidance rituals – specify what is not to be done, and respecting personal space.

Presentational rituals – specify what should be done, and how to treat recipients.

Demeanor

Demeanor: the self as conveyed by appearance, the nature of an individuals movements, language use, etc…

Individuals can convey a different demeanor depending on their context and what role they take on in these contexts.

Frame-shifting

Interaction between Deference and Demeanor

Deference and Demeanor can both work together to support an individuals image of self, or can work in conflict to injure that image of self.

Deference and Demeanor can often come into conflict with ones image of self in cross-cultural interactions.

Questions?

Can you think of any other examples where deference and demeanor can come into conflict?

Can you think of any examples from your own life where someone has broken the rules of conduct, and what the reaction to this was? How did that person recover their ‘self’ after such an incident?

References

Goffman, E 1967, ‘The nature of deference and demeanor’, Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behaviour, Doubleday, Garden City, NY, pp47-95

Tannen, D 2009, ‘Framing and Face: the Relevance of the Presentation of Self to Linguistic Discourse Analysis’, Social Psychology Quarterly, vol. 72, no. 4, pp300-305

Giddens, A 2003, ‘On Rereading The Presentation of Self: Some Reflections’, Social Psychology Quarterly, vol. 72, no. 4, pp290-29

Aspects of presentation of self-

Adaption to failure Dramaturgy Application of presentation of self to

social media platforms.

“On cooling the mark out-some aspects of adaption to failure” by Erving Goffman

How individuals adapt to failure in criminal terms:

Mark= person being conned Operators= con men Play= the con Cooling the mark out= consoling a

person to aid in the adaption to failure process and prevent confrontation. (Goffman, 1952)

“Cooling the mark out” can be applied to many aspects of involuntary loss:

Negative career change- “cooler” many be boss or friend appointed by boss.

Relationship change- “cooler” often a friend.

Con- “cooler” may be an operator who is left behind.

Individual must come to terms with loss by replacing former version of that part of themselves (Goffman, 1952).

Often, “cooler” will present an alternative, i.e pay out or redundancy, lover to friend, athlete to coach etc.

When the mark refuses to be cooled.

Catharsis: emotional peak which allows for a change in emotion, way of thinking or the over coming of an issue.

Stalling allows ‘mark’ to come to adapt to the change emotionally.

Dramaturgy

The way we present ourselves in social interactions may be defined as an act.

Represents our idealised self. (Hogan, 2010)

Performance and place, or how we react due to people and our surroundings

Presentation of self in social media

Ordinary interaction/presentation = off the record (act).

Online interaction/ presentation = trail of data (artefact).

Social media platforms as exhibitions (Hogan, 2010).

Questions:

Do you think adaption to failure falls under the deference or demeanor category?

Can you think of other examples when a ‘mark’ may need ‘cooling’?

In regards to social media, what problems do you think will arise from our ‘acts’ becoming ‘artifacts’?

References:

Goffman, E. 1952. “On Cooling the Mark Out: Some Aspects of Adaptation to Failure.” Available at (http://www.tau.ac.il/~algazi/mat/Goffman--Cooling.htm.)

Hogan, B 2010, “The presentation of Self in the Age of Social Media: Distinguishing Performances and Exhibitions Online”, Bulletin of Social Sciences, issue 30, vol 6, p377-386, accessed 15th August 2012, Available at (http://bst.sagepub.com/content/30/6/377)