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Do You See Me as I See Me? The Effects of Impression Management Incongruence of Actors and Audiences

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Abstract

Based on the idea that both actor and audience member are present in impression management (IM), we argue that the effectiveness of IM usage can only be determined when ratings from both the actor and the audience are considered. Further, we use self-verification theory to explain how IM incongruence may impact workplace outcomes. To test our arguments, we employed congruence analysis (Cheung in Organizational Research Methods 12, 6–33, 2009a). Our approach differs from the majority of extant IM research that employs measures of IM only from the actor’s perspective. By incorporating assessments from the actor and the audience, we bring research on IM back to its theoretical roots and offer a rationale for the varied and inconsistent findings reported in the literature. Using a sample of 175 employees and their supervisors, we examined and compared IM ratings of subordinates’ ingratiation, self-promotion, and exemplification from both the employee and supervisor. Additionally, we investigate the ability of those ratings, individually and together, to predict both subordinate and supervisor ratings of key organizational outcomes. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research also are provided.

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Notes

  1. We thank an anonymous reviewer for this insight.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, College of Business, University of Texas at Arlington, P.O. Box 19467, 701 S. West Street, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA

    Wayne S. Crawford

  2. Department of Management, McCoy College of Business Administration, Texas State University, 601 University, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA

    K. Michele (Micki) Kacmar

  3. School of Business, Indiana University Southeast, 4201 Grant Line Road, New Albany, IN, 47150, USA

    Kenneth J. Harris

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  1. Wayne S. Crawford
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  2. K. Michele (Micki) Kacmar
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  3. Kenneth J. Harris
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Correspondence to Wayne S. Crawford.

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Crawford, W.S., Kacmar, K.M.(. & Harris, K.J. Do You See Me as I See Me? The Effects of Impression Management Incongruence of Actors and Audiences. J Bus Psychol 34, 453–469 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-018-9549-6

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