The Presentation Of Self On Everyday Life ( Goffman, 1959 )

The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (Goffman, 1959) is a work analysing our daily life from the perspective that our actions and interactions with others, their rationale and meaning, are social in nature. Goffman applies metaphor to his theory of the presentation of the self by pursuing a dramaturgical analysis (p. 15) with the intent to describe how individuals construct and maintain performance in society, and how aspects of social and cultural expectation, define that behaviour. Social mores indicate we should behave differently under different social contexts to fulfil society expectations while maintaining the presence of our favourable self, within society. Given social interaction is guided by an individual’s need to control or manipulate the impression they are giving, this supports the idea that impression management also extends to online social environments, such as Facebook. Goffman applies the analogy of the theatre, or the dramaturgical approach, to frame how individuals use performance in an attempt to direct the impression that others may make of them by manipulating the props at their disposal. At the same time, the person they are socially engaged with- the audience; is attempting to make sense of the information they are receiving. Therefore, in an individual’s everyday life, most people wish to present themselves favourably so Goffman argues that the presentation of the self is concerned with the management of that impression. This involves aShow MoreRelatedGoffmans Key Terms and Consumer Experiences956 Words   |  4 PagesThe individual self is made up of different roles which actors enact; these may be one’s family roles, community roles, and professional roles and so on. Communication of these roles, so that others begin to understand what part of the individual self is being enacted, occurs either non-verbally or verbally (Goffman 1959). The way in which an actor dresses and accessorizes helps the actor comm unicate the role they are playing. Goffman (1959) refers to this as â€Å"standardized expressive equipment†.Read MoreThe Presentation Of The Self By Irving Goffman1305 Words   |  6 PagesConcept note: Dramaturgy The sociological concept ‘dramaturgy’, developed by Irving Goffman (1922 – 1982), was initially used in his book The Presentation of the Self (1959). Dramaturgy uses the theatre as an extended metaphor to explain social interaction and social roles. Like actors in a play, people play roles, working together to up hold various social realities and functional institutions such as work, school, home, medical, legal or leisure. Key components of this theory are ‘front and back’Read MoreThe Presentation of Self in Everyday Life by Erving Goffman955 Words   |  4 Pageshis book, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman (1959) focuses on the self as a staged production in which people actively present themselves to different audiences one encounters. To bolster his conceptualization, Goffman used an interesting metaphor of â€Å"all the world’s a stage† (1959, 254). This, he terms as a â€Å"dramaturgical approach† (Goffman 1959, 240) in which an actor puts on a show for others; drawing analogies between human behaviors and the theater. Goffman (1959) likens the individualRead MoreThe Sociological Perspective Of Dramaturgy Is Associated With Irving Goffman1041 Words   |  5 Pages The sociological perspective of dramaturgy is associated with Irving Goffman (1922 – 1982) who developed the concept in his book The Presentation Of The Self In Everyday Life (1959). Using theatre as an extended metaphor, dramaturgy explains the everyday interactions that uphold social reality. Life is like a play, and like actors in a play, people perform roles, working in teams to create the social world, like scenes in a play. This provides functional institutions of work, school, home, hospitalsRead MoreThe Influence Of Symbolic Interactionism And The Social Context On How Others Might See Us1578 Words   |  7 PagesIn his book ‘The Presentation of self in everyday life’, Erving Goffman states â€Å"We are all just actors trying to control and manage our public image, we act based on how others might see us.† This is a pinnacle viewpoint of the sociological theory Symbolical Interactionism which is â€Å"a study of human group life and conduct which holds meaning central to human behaviour† (Blumer, 1992; Ray, L 2017: npg). This essay will critically evaluate this statement and its sociological significance. In orderRead MoreThe Presentation Of The Self By Irving Goffman1167 Words   |  5 Pages The sociological concept ‘dramaturgy’, was developed by Irving Goffman (1922 – 1982) and initially used in his book The Presentation of the Self (1959). The concept was also a feature of subsequent works Behavior in Public Places (1963) and Interaction Rituals (1967), where the focus was on interaction and social scene rather than self-presentation and identity work. Dramaturgy uses the theatre as an extended metaphor to explain how people perform a variety of social roles, like actors in a playRead MoreSocial Media And Its Impact On Society1748 Words   |  7 Pagesfrom their posts and how they begin to form their identity based on the social networks they engage in. In The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Erving Goffman (1959) discusses his theory about dramaturgy. Goffman (1959) expresses his ideas by relating them with the way individuals encounter face-to-face interactions in their daily lives. He emphasizes the importance that life is similar to a theatrical play, where individuals adapt the roles of a presenter and audience. In addition, heRead MoreSocial Order (Foucault and Goffman)1463 Words   |  6 PagesThis essay will examine two views on social order, applied to social sciences, and embodied in everyday life. It will compare and contrast a Canadian sociologist, Erving Goffman, and a French philosopher, Michel Foucault. Through an analysis of these two figures, the text will present different ways of looking at social ordering and individuals place in a human society. Firstly, it will be shown how Goffman and Foucault approach the subject of social order, finding patterns of behaviour in micro andRead MoreGoffman s Function alist Sociological Approach1469 Words   |  6 Pagestogether†. (Macionis and Plummer 2012) It also â€Å"goes beyond everyday common sense by using systematic methods of empirical observation and theories† (Boundless [online] 2015). I will be using Goffman’s functionalist sociological approach of Dramaturgy to understand human life and to analyse my first few weeks of university. Goffman’s sociology is â€Å"concerned with everyday life, in particular with showing the tenuous nature of social life.†(Smart, n.d) His theory is based on symbolic interactionalismRead MoreThe Presentation Of Self As A Work Developed By Sociologist Erving Goffman1740 Words   |  7 PagesThe Presentation of Self In Everyday Life is a work developed by noted sociologist Erving Goffman. In it, Goffman details the sociological perspective of our social interactions. He uses the metaphor of theatre to better understand the complexities surrounding interactions; it is fro m this seminal text that we establish words from the dramaturgical framework such as performance, backstage, front-stage, and costume as illustrations of interactionism. He begins the book by addressing the idea of performance