ABSTRACT
In everyday understanding, impression management refers to actions that make a person look good (and perhaps well) on the surface, such as dressing in style, looking physically fit, smiling frequently, and giving firm handshakes. Indeed, all of these behaviors are part of impression management, even if they focus more on superficial characteristics, rather than personality and cognitive characteristics. Surface-level self-presentation tactics are those aspects of impression management that focus on readily observable behaviors rather than underlying characteristics. Because a change is on the surface, it does not mean that the change is not important. For example, changing the manner of dress or nonverbal language can have an enormous impact on how well a person is received.
