Self Presentation and Interacting with Others

Every interaction is a theatrical performance.
We use scene, costume, and role to influence others.
Impression Management: Consciously or unconsciously influencing others' perceptions of a person, object, or event.
Self-Presentation: Displaying ourselves through clothing, grooming and actions to be seen in the best light.

Expressed emotions: verbal and nonverbal behaviors communicating internal states, both consciously and unconsciously.
Basic Model of Emotional Expression (Charles Darwin):
- Components: facial expressions, behaviors, postures, vocal changes, physiological changes.
- Claimed expression is consistent across cultures.
- Primates and animals show rudimentary muscle actions similar to human facial expressions.
Researchers have found universal recognition of basic human emotions and corresponding facial expressions.
Appraisal Model: Acceptance of biologically predetermined expressions once an emotion is experienced, but there is a cognitive antecedent to emotional expression.
Models describing individual emotion:
*James Lane
*Cannon Bard,
*Schatzter Sinner

Social Construction Model:
- No biological basis for emotions.
- Emotions based on experiences in situational context only.
- Emotions exist within social encounters.
- Emotions are expressed differently across cultures.
- Familiarity with social norms is needed to perform emotional behaviors.
- Culture provides the framework to understand and interpret behaviors.

Cultural differences lead to different social consequences in emotional expression.
Display Rules: Cultural expectations of emotions.
- Example: Inuit society rarely expresses anger; those who do are considered social pariahs.
- Display rules govern which emotions can be expressed and to what degree.
- Differ based on culture, gender, or family background.
Managing Emotional Expression:
- Simulating feelings not actually felt.
- Qualifying, amplifying, or de-amplifying feelings.
- Masking an emotion with another emotion.
- Neutralizing any emotional expression.

A shared set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, values, and behaviors among members of the same culture organized around a central theme.
Influence rules for expressing or suppressing emotions and the ways emotions are experienced.
- Individualistic cultural syndromes (e.g. The United States):
  - Happiness is infinite, attainable, and internally experienced (I am happy).
- Collectivist cultural syndrome (e.g. Japan):
  - Happiness is rational and applied to collective experiences (I am sharing happiness with others).

Women are expected to express anger in public less than men in the United States.
Men are expected to repress the expression of sadness.
Women are better at detecting subtle differences in emotional expression than men.

Impression management refers to our attempts to influence how others perceive us
Regulating/controlling presented information in social interactions.
Often used synonymously with self-presentation.
Three Selves:
- Authentic Self: Who the person actually is (positive and negative attributes).
- Ideal Self: Who we would like to be under optimal circumstances.
- Tactical Self: Who we market ourselves to be, adhering to others' expectations (similar to the ought self).

Uses a theatrical performance metaphor to describe how individuals create images of themselves.
- Front Stage Self: Persona presented to an audience; adapts to social situation, setting, role, and script.
- Backstage Self: Persona adopted when not in a social situation; no concern about upholding a public image.

Communication: The ability to convey information by speech, writing signals, or behavior.
Effective communication: occurs when the desired message is received by the recipient.
Verbal Communication: Transmission of information via the use of words (spoken, written, or signed), tied to nonverbal communication.
Nonverbal Communication: Communication without words (facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, body position, movement, touches, eye positioning).

Expression of emotions.
Conveyance of attitudes and personality traits.
Facilitation of verbal communication.
Culture influences nonverbal communication interpretation.
- US culture: suspicion of those who don't make eye contact.
- Asian cultures: less direct eye contact to show respect.

Any behavior of one animal that affects the behavior of another.
Convey information about emotions, intent, status, health, location of resources.
Nonverbal Communication:
- Body language indicates fear, aggression, relaxation, or embarrassment.
- Facial expressions are more consistent between species than body language.
- Visual displays (sex discrimination in birds), bioluminescence, plumage, and dancing.
  *Bees communicates through dancing
- Scents: Intra- and interspecific communication, pheromones for attracting mate, marking territory or method of defense.
  - Skunks
- Vocalizations: prairie dogs have different “words” for specific predators; bird calls are species-specific.

Verbal and Nonverbal communication when Interacting with domesticated animals.
- Dog owners use vocal commands (come, stay, sit).
- Tone of voice communicates joy or anger.
- Pets' body language and expressions convey information to owners.
Animal Communication: Koko the Gorilla communicated with humans using American Sign Language (vocabulary of over 1,000 words).

Skunks use body language, hissing, and foot stomping before spraying. Sprays are ultimate defense
*Animal spray:
$thiol containing compounds$
Humans communicate through vocalization, body language, facial expressions, and gestures.
Sociology stems from these interactions creating groups, networks, organizations, and hierarchies within society.
Impression management is used to create an optimal image.
Chapter 8 will focus on attraction/altruism and bias/prejudice/discrimination/stereotypes.