Enacting self-presentations is a cognitively demanding process as evaluating a self-presentation strategy and the post-enactment phase are anxiety-driven (Schlenker & Leary, 1982; Apsler, 1975; Brown & Garland, 1971). Individuals experience such anxiety as they attempt to project core aspects of the self like self-esteem and self-evaluation (Baumeister, 1982; Schlenker, 1975; Archibald & Cohen, 1971).
Self-esteem has an impact on individual’s desires in seeking approval when enacting self- presentations. Archibald & Cohen (1971) suggest that self-esteem is relevant in two situations: when future interactions are anticipated and the audience is ‘private’ or ‘public’. In instances when the audience is public, individuals consider longevity in relationships before their performative interactions. As Schlenker (1975) demonstrates, in the anticipation of longevity in relationships, individuals are cautious in their self-presentations and present a self that they expect to validate in the near future. In cases when the audience is internal, individuals considered preconceived notions of the external audience prior to performative interactions. Baumeister (1982) demonstrates that respondents with low esteem felt obligated to comply with their reputation while respondents with high self-esteem did not appear to feel constrained to conform to others’ expectations. Cognitive demands in enacting self-presentations includes considering reputation and expectations of the audience and conforming to these notions (Baumeister & Jones, 1978). Their study also looked at long-term on-going relationships and the role of self-presentations in the context of longevity, that is, “in the course of a lasting relationship, a person would attempt to ‘correct’ or improve another’s unfavourable impression” (Baumeister & Jones, 1978, p.616). Thus, if individuals suspect that they are considered
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immature or dull-witted, they might bring up in conversation their political or civic awareness to try to argue for their maturity or intelligence, however, if they think others find them mature and intelligent, they probably would not even mention political leaning unless specifically questioned. Baumeister & Tice (1989) suggest that individuals may cognitively immerse in self-presentation tactics in order to protect one’s self-esteem or promote self-enhancement. Cognitive demands in enacting self-presentations are enhanced in situations when individuals must switch between self-presentation strategies swiftly and particularly in those cases when individuals have to switch back and forth between contexts that are very different from one another (Raghuram, 2013). These studies highlight the emphasis actors lay on cognitive immersion in internal (self- esteem) and external (audience – private or public) factors in the process of enacting self- presentations. Further, the act of self-presentation is a cognitively discomforting experience for individuals in not just acting skills, but also communication skills. Individuals chose the information they wish to convey, then chose the precise words and non-verbal behaviour to communicate the same to the audience (Derlega & Chaikin, 1977) and such precise enactments request rehearsals and confidence. Overall, Gardner & Martinko (1988b) suggest that individuals who exhibit personality traits such as self-monitoring ability, machiavellism, need for approval and social anxiety are particularly inclined to experience stress in the self-presentation process.
At the workplace in particular, individuals cognitively involve in their self-presentation strategies to gain specific work-related outcomes (Cooper, 2005). For instance, use of humour and ingratiatory behaviour is a common strategy to foster positive impressions at the workplace (Liden & Mitchell, 1988; Cooper, 2005). The use of humour through these forms is a "class of strategic behaviours illicitly designed to influence a particular other person concerning the
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attractiveness of one's personal qualities" (Jones, 1964, p.11). Other types of purposive behaviours include intimidation, self-promotion, and exemplification; through these behaviours individuals may seek to be perceived as dangerous, competent, and morally worthy respectively (Jones & Pittman, 1980). In modern organizations where individuals work across geographies, individuals invest cognitively in fostering positive impressions of the self in the absence of face- work (Clair et al., 2005). In the absence of face-work, Sayah (2013) finds that individuals spend considerable time in their personal-professional life socialising with workplace colleagues on social media. Such enhanced and continued interaction with workplace colleagues on social media can lead to conflicts in terms of identifying geniuine friendships, overlap of self- presentations and boundary overlap across personal-professional life. As Skeels & Grudin (2009) explain, there are multiple problems to address: “differentiating among friends is a delicate task. People love to share information on their moods and photos from vacations, parties and activities with friends, but encounter problems when they share too widely. However, the ability to build rapport and closer professional relationships may diminish if all personal life is hidden from professional contacts. Categorizing friends could undermine the informal friendliness of the medium. Conversely, people want to share work information with colleagues, trusting that it won’t inadvertently reach the public”. In regards to overlap of self-presentations, while this conflict may be an inevitable result of continued interaction across physical and virtual settings, it may pose a risk for those individuals who practise ‘regional behaviour’ or ‘audience segregation’. Further, as Koch et al. (2012) find, employees’ use of social networking sites blurred work-life boundaries yet created positive impressions for those that used internal company networks.
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Finally, cognitive demands in performative interactions on social media are furthered due to the technological infrastructure of social networking sites. Vasalou et al. (2010) suggest sites like Facebook are technologically built to encourage individuals to stay on the site for longer. Presumably, staying on one social media site for a long time and watching audience reactions to self-presentations can be stressful (Ito, 2010). In addition, as Sayah (2013) suggests, performative interactions on self-presentations on social media is a cognitively demanding process as self-presentations on the internet surpass temporal and spatial boundaries.
Overall, individuals experience cognitive struggles in the process of enacting self-presentations. Such cognitive struggles arise as individuals immerse in notions of self-esteem and self- evaluation in the performative process. The conflicts arise when individuals consider longevity in relationships and are particularly high when they are enacting for the self. At the workplace, individuals inevitably experience cognitive struggles as they seek work-related outcomes like a job or promotion. On social media, individuals experience additional cognitive demands due to the inevitability of overlapping interactions and consequently of overlapping self-presentations across physical and virtual settings.
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