The Presentation of Self Through Action Identification

This study examined the relevance of action identification principles to the dynamics of self-presentation. Subjects received either success or failure feedback for attempted artwork and then were led to expect interaction with a stranger who ostensibly valued either boastfulness or modesty in other people. Prior to this expected interaction, subjects were asked to provide descriptions of their behavior in the artwork portion of the study, with the understanding that these action identities would be passed on to their interaction partner. Action identification theory holds that successful actions tend to be identified at relatively high (meaningful, self-descriptive) levels, whereas unsuccessful actions tend to be identified at lower (movement-defined) levels. In line with this reasoning, failure subjects were expected to describe their artwork behavior at a lower level than was expected of success subjects. And if this were the case, self-presentation goals might also influence identification level: Anticipated interaction with someone who was thought to like boastful others (people who emphasize their accomplishments and general effectiveness) was expected to promote relatively high-level identities in action communication, whereas anticipated interaction with someone who was thought to like modest others (those who downplay their accomplishments and effectiveness) was expected to promote the communication of one's action in lower-level terms. Results supported these predictions.