Defining the Nomological Network of Impression Management

ABSTRACT\ud DEFINING THE NOMOLOGICAL NETWORK\ud OF IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT\ud by\ud ?? Andrew Clark Nichols 2011\ud Master of Arts in Psychology\ud Psychological Science Option\ud California State University, Chico\ud Spring 2011\ud Goffman???s theory of self-presentation postulates that information people\ud obtain about their audiences may serve to direct their behavior appropriately. This idea\ud has since generated numerous closely related theories, two of which are central to this\ud investigation. Snyder???s self-monitoring theory states that people can???and often do???\ud observe, regulate, and control the image they project for their target audiences. Similarly,\ud the idea of socially desirable responding posits that people give self-descriptions\ud exaggerating their positive behaviors and underreporting their undesirable behaviors,\ud thereby presenting themselves more favorably. Paulhus divides these responses into two\ud categories: Impression Management (deceiving others in order to look good) and Self-\ud Deceptive Enhancement (deceiving oneself in order to look good). The primary\ud hypothesis was that self-monitoring and socially desirable responding???as measured by\ud viii\ud the Impression Management subscale of Paulhus??? Balanced Inventory of Desirable\ud Responding???should have a significant, positive correlation, which is logical given the\ud similarity of their theoretical definitions. However, the data did not support this\ud hypothesis. Possible explanations for this lack of a discernable relationship are discussed.\ud Hopefully additional research in this area will further clarify the nomological network for\ud these theories and augment understanding of self-presentation.CSU, Chic