This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: When people think about making a good impression at work, the focus usually turns inward. How do I demonstrate my value?
How do I make sure others see me as capable, confident and influential? Edward Zollinger Professor of Business at William & Mary's Raymond A. Mason School of Business, is asking a different question: What if making a positive impression has less to do with drawing attention to yourself and more to do with what you help other people experience?
In his new paper, "The Beacon Effect: A Model of Humanistic Impression Management," published in Organizational Psychology Review, Long introduces a framework he calls humanistic impression management. The model offers an audience-centered way to understand how people can create favorable impressions by supporting the psychological needs of those around them. "The beacon effect is really about changing where we put our attention," Long says.
"Instead of asking how we can make ourselves look good, we can ask how we can interact with people in ways that help them feel valued, connected and capable." Impression management is not new to organizational research. People routinely make choices about how they present themselves to colleagues, supervisors, clients and other audiences. Traditional approaches often include behaviors such as self-promotion, ingratiation and exemplification.
Long's model does not suggest abandoning those approaches but instead adds another way to understand why certain interpersonal behaviors can lead to favorable impressions. The difference is where the attention falls. Rather than focusing primarily on what the individual is trying to communicate about themselves, humanistic impression management focuses on the audience's experience.
Long proposes that favorable impressions can emerge when interactions help satisfy three basic psychological needs: autonomy, relatedness and competence. That shift is at the heart of the beacon effect. "A beacon is useful because it illuminates something beyond itself," Long explains.
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