Self-Presentation and Group Influence

Abstract

One purpose of this article is to discuss the influence that others present (coactors or other group members) has on an individual's self-presentation behavior. A second purpose is to outline possible future directions in research. Discussion associated with the former is subdivided into three main sections. In the first section, implications for self-presentation from group dynamics research from a number of areas (social loafing, self-handicapping, attributions for responsibility, social facilitation, and conformity behavior) are discussed. The second section addresses the question, Does the presence of participating others (coactors, fellow group members) help to alleviate some of the social anxiety that arises from self-presentation concerns? In the third section, the question of why the presence of coactors or fellow group members might contribute to reducing social anxiety is examined. Finally, possible future directions are introduced and discussed in a final section.

The authors would like to thank Mark Eys and Kathleen Martin for their comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this paper.

Notes

¹ The swimmers tested by Rhodewalt et al. were on a team but the results of the study are reported here because the professional golfers tested were coactors.

² Typically, individual sports have been considered to represent a “coaction situation.” However, given that Colman and Carron obtained measures of cohesion, their research is discussed in the present section.

³ It may be recalled from the discussion above that the female participants experienced more anxiety going to the beach with a group of male friends than going alone. Consequently, the question of why groups might serve to alleviate social anxiety was not relevant for this context and, therefore, not examined.