Abstract
Impression management refers to behaviors used by individuals to control the impressions they make on audiences. This study demonstrated that business men and women were more likely to defend their questionable behavior by using excuses and justifications than to openly concede errors of judgment and behavior. Three hundred and sixty two participants received a scenario in which they had allegedly engaged in questionable behavior. The participants then wrote a position paper explaining their actions. Results indicated that people in business attempt to avoid being associated with potentially negative interpretations of their behavior primarily through the use of justifications and excuses. In general, the types of responses were relatively consistent across work experience, educational and occupational levels. However, in some instances the specific explanations used depended on gender and age.
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Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they regard such departure as a criticism of themselves.
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970)
Mary Konovsky is an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the A. B. Freeman School of Business of Tulane University. She received her Ph.D. from the Indiana University School of Business in 1986. Her research interests include procedural justice in organizations, organizational citizenship behavior, and ethics in management decision-making.
Frank Jaster is Executive Vice President of Aegis Consulting & Training, Inc., Denver, Colorado, and Adjunct Professor of Management Communication at Tulane University. His doctorate is in American Literature from Tulane. His current research interests are in entrepreneurship, business ethics, and the (sometimes hostile) relationship between business and the media.
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Konovsky, M.A., Jaster, F. “Blaming the victim” and other ways business men and women account for questionable behavior. J Bus Ethics 8, 391–398 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381731
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381731