Self-Relection Allows Us to Manage Our Image

     What stood out to me the most from chapter 4 is the concept of self-reflection in relation to managing our image. To put this in layman's terms, it's the idea that we “work hard to be perceived in certain ways and not others” (Wood, 2012, p. 103). Generally, we use this in order to give off a positive vibe about ourselves to other people around us. It's possible that you may naturally be a lazy person, but when interviewing for a job you want the interviewer believe that you are hardworking and are willing to take the job seriously. Another situation may be when a guy intentionally broadens his shoulders when walking by a group of girls in the rec center in order to appear bigger than he really is.

     For the most part, this concept allows us to attempt to get something positive out of a particular situation, but there are times when it does the exact opposite. To be honest, growing up in a small, farming town as a geek was mentally and emotionally taxing at times; particularly during high school. I mentioned during my identity collage presentation that there were eight other students in my graduating class. In the class I was generally viewed as the “smart” one and I worked hard to avoid from becoming the “nerd” of the class. There were numerous times where I would downplay some of the activities I'm genuinely interested in due to fear that the rest of the class would ridicule me for it.

     One example I can think of is my love for electronic music. The rest of the class all listened to country and Top 40 whereas I really didn't find much enjoyment in either. However, I forced myself to listen to those particular genres so I didn't get weird looks when answering the simple question of, “What's your favorite song?”

     I have struggled with improving this aspect of myself for the past few years, but I'm slowly making progress. I need to realize that there is a fine line between “watching what you say” and simply being paranoid. My liking electronic music is something that I'm completely comfortable saying now, but there are still some things I'm interested in that I'm still too afraid to publicly disclose in fear that people will consider me as weird or abnormal. While I never expect to simply shout these interests out to the world, it would be nice to be able to have a discrete conversation about them without worrying about someone judging me. 

References 

Wood, J. T. (2012). Interpersonal communication: Everyday encounters, seventh edition. Boston, MA: Wadsworth 

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