Self-Presentational Congruence and Psychosocial Adjustment: A Test of Three Models

• Published in: Journal of social and clinical psychology Vol. 35; no. 7; pp. 589 - 608
• Main Authors: Gohar, Dina, Leary, Mark R., Costanzo, Philip R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Guilford Press 01.09.2016
• Subjects: Behavior; Psychology; Self image; Studies
• ISSN: 0736-7236; 1943-2771
• DOI: 10.1521/jscp.2016.35.7.589

People regularly monitor and control the impressions others form of them but differ in the degree to which they both convey impressions that are consistent with their private self-views (self-presentational congruence) and present different images of themselves to different targets (self-presentational variability). This study examined the implications of self-presentational congruence and variability for psychological and social well-being. Participants rated the impressions that they tried to make on nine individuals in their lives and completed measures of psychosocial well-being. Results indicated that self-presentational congruence predicted psychosocial adjustment (higher subjective well-being, social support quality, social efficacy, and self-esteem; and lower anxiety, depression, and loneliness) beyond personality variables such as self-consciousness, fear of negative evaluation, and Machiavellianism. Self-presentational variability across targets also predicted better psychosocial adjustment, with variability across non-intimates being most predictive. Thus, self-presentational flexibility may promote psychosocial well-being as long as people's projected images are reasonably congruent with their private self-views.