Self-presentation

People have a pervasive and ongoing concern with how they are perceived and evaluated by others. No matter what they are doing, people typically desire to make certain impressions on other people, and this focus on social images underlies a great deal of human behavior. Mark Leary offers a thorough, integrative review of the antecedents and consequences of self-presentation, examining why we are concerned with our public images and how our self-presentational motives affect behavior and emotion.Leary uses this self-presentational perspective to provide insight into leadership, aggression, attitude change, exercise, conflict, memory, self-enhancement, gender differences, embarrassment, and heath-related behaviors. Looking at both situational factors that affect self-presentational behaviors, and personality variables that predispose some people to be particularly concerned about others' impressions of them, Self-Presentation is an ideal supplemental text for courses in social psychology and personality, as well as for courses dealing with personality, motivation, the self, social influence, and interpersonal behavior.