Erving Goffman The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life Essay

Erving Goffman has completed a howling(prenominal) kick ination of human behaviour and face-to-face interactions, of a first-class honours degree collision between two hoi polloi, who may or may not stick an audience. The use of a theatrical performance to explain the interaction was and so an ingenious idea that kept me intrigued until the very end. This book was pen in 1959 but its referencing to human behaviour is still very much pertinent to to daylights life style. Human behaviour patterns have been written about by many individuals over the years, why we do the things we do or how long we have been chthoniantaking these behaviours. Is there any relevancy to the patterns in our behaviour? It would seem there definitely appears to be. As a society, to influence how another person perceives who we argon.We give appearances and refinements of someone we want commonwealth to see, yet not particularly who we truly are. Goffman describes this as a performance, a play that w e put on to give a good first impression. This play could become a nightmare, if we do not keep it under control. It can be difficult to play the part of someone you are not, for the reason that it can rebound on you. It is better to persist with who you are, and not reveal all of yourself in the beginning, like a good story. To present who we are, we should start at the foundation, begin with presenting an opening act. This act should be close together(p) to true life, the person you would like to be known as. Currently a person of importance gives the impression that they know what they are doing, example your doctor.If they were a person who, on first confrontation gave the impression that they were unsure, confused and unconfident, would you go back to them? No, perhaps not. Even when they are having a bad day your doctor will always appear to be in control, so that we feel more at ease. When we first meet new people we try to acquire tuition about them, it is then how the pe rson delivers this information, that we home plate our assumptions. People give information verbally and non-verbally by expressions, movements, gestures and other presumably unintentional communications, like a slight smile.Our brain takes all this information into consideration then makes a personal judgment based on the material it pile ups. There is so much information for us to collect and make our decision on, that we sometimes need a second meeting to be able to make a correct judgement on a particular person we have meet. Goffman concludes that his own assumptions are make upon a face-to-face interaction and the result of an encounter, the performance that is given to to each one particular participant and their performance as a basic hint of reference. In conclusion, Goffmans writings clearly represent how we present ourselves in free-and-easy life today, and possibly well into the future.ReferencesErving, Goffman (1959). The Presentation of Self in day-to-day Life, N ew York, Anchor Books, pp. 1-16.