Indirect tactics of image management are self-presentational techniques that manage information not about oneself but about one's associations. Prior work has documented several indirect techniques, such as "basking" in the reflected glory of another's success and "blasting" the accomplishments of one's rival. The present research found evidence for another indirect image management tactic: "boosting," wherein an individual confronted with a personal connection to another, especially a negative other, elevates aspects of the other's character. In the first study, subjects who became aware that they were born on the same day and month as a maligned historical figure (Rasputin, the "Mad Monk of Russia") significantly softened their views of his negativity. This was the case even though they thought that no one else knew of the birth date connection, suggesting that the tactic was performed for reasons of private rather than public regard. A second study replicated these findings regardless of whether subjects encountered the birth date connection before or after reading about Rasputin's negative traits. The results are interpreted in terms of the balance theory concept of unit connections.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anderson, J. , & Bower, G. (1973). Human associative memory. Washington, DC: V. H. Winston.
2.
Anderson, R. C. , & Pichert, J. W. (1978). Recall of previously unrecallable information following a shift in perspective. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 17, 1-12.
3.
Baumeister, R. F. (1986). Public and private self. New York: Springer-Verlag.
4.
Baumeister, R. F. , & Jones, E. E. (1978). When self-presentation is constrained by the target's knowledge: Consistency and compensation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 608-618.
5.
Bower, G. H. (1981). Emotional mood and memory. American Psychologist, 36, 129-148.
6.
Brewer, M. (1979). In-group bias in the minimal intergroup situation: A cognitive-motivational analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 307-324.
7.
Cialdini, R. B. , Borden, R. J., Thorne, A., Walker, M. R., Freeman, S., & Sloan, L. R. (1976). Basking in reflected glory: Three (football) field studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 366-375.
8.
Cialdini, R. B. , & Richardson, K. D. (1980). Two indirect tactics of impression management: Basking and blasting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 406-415.
9.
Clark, M. , & Isen, A. (1982). Toward understanding the relationship between feeling states and social behavior. In A. Hasdorf & A. Isen (Eds.), Cognitive social psychology (pp. 73-108). New York: Elsevier.
10.
Cody, M. J. , & McLaughlin, M. L. (1985). Models for the sequential construction of accounting episodes. In R. L. Street, Jr., & J. N. Cappella (Eds.), Sequence and pattern in communicative behavior (pp. 50-69). London: Edward Arnold.
11.
Collins, A. M. , & Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading-activation theory of semantic processing. Psychological Review, 82, 407-428.
12.
Godfrey, D. K. , Jones, E. E., & Lord, C. G. (1986). Self-promotion is not ingratiating. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 106-115.
13.
Goffman, E. (1971). Relations in public: Microstudies of the public order. New York: Basic Books.
14.
Greenwald, A. G. , & Breckler, S. J. (1985). To whom is the self presented? In B. R. Schlenker (Ed.), The self and social life (pp. 126-145). New York: McGraw-Hill.
15.
Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: Wiley.
16.
Jones, E. E. , Rhodewalt, F., Berglas, S., & Skelton, J. A. (1981). Effects of strategic self-presentation on subsequent self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 407-421.
17.
Paulhus, D. (1983). Sphere-specific measures of perceived control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 1253-1265.
18.
Rhodewalt, F. , & Agustsdottir, S. (1986). Effects of self-presentation on the phenomenal self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 47-55.
19.
Richardson, K. D. , & Cialdini, R. B. (1981). Basking and blasting: Techniques of indirect self-presentation. In J. T. Tedeschi (Ed.), Impression management theory and social psychological research (pp. 41-56). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
20.
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
21.
Rothbart, M. , Evans, M., & Fulero, S. (1979). Recall for confirming events: Memory processes and the maintenance of social stereotyping. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 15, 343-355.
22.
Schlenker, B. R. (1975). Self-presentation: Managing the impression of consistency when reality interferes with self-enhancement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 1030-1037.
23.
Schlenker, B. R. (1980). Impression management: The self-concept, social identity, and interpersonal relations. Pacific Groves, CA: Brooks/Cole.
24.
Schlenker, B. R. (1985). Identity and self-identification. In B. R. Schlenker (Ed.), The self and social life (pp. 65-99). New York: McGraw-Hill.
25.
Schlenker, B. R. (1986). Self-identification: Toward an integration of the public and private self. In R. Baumeister (Ed.). Public self and private self (pp. 21-62). New York: Springer-Verlag.
26.
Schneider, D. J. (1969). Tactical self-presentation after success and failure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 13, 262-268.
27.
Schonbach, P. (1980). A category system for account phases. European Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 195-200.
28.
Semin, G. R. , & Manstead, A.S.R. (1983). The accountability of conduct: A social psychological analysis. London: Academic Press.
29.
Snyder, C. R. , Higgins, R. L., & Stucky, R. J. (1983). Excuses: Masquerades in search of grace. New York: Wiley.
30.
Snyder, C. R. , Lassengard, M., & Ford, C. E. (1986). Distancing after group success and failure: Basking in reflected glory and cutting off reflected failure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 382-388.
31.
Snyder, M. , & Uranowitz, S. W. (1978). Reconstructing the past: Some cognitive consequences of person perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 941-950.
32.
Tesser, A. (in press). Toward a self-evaluation maintenance model of social behavior. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 20). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
33.
Tesser, A. , & Smith, J. (1980). Some effects of task relevance and friendship on helping: You don't always help the one you like. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16, 582-590.
34.
Wicklund, R. A. , & Gollwitzer, P. M. (1982). Symbolic self-completion. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
35.
Zadny, J. , & Gerard, H. B. (1974). Attributed intentions and informational selectivity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 10, 34-52.
