ABSTRACT
As people construct their public identities, they take into account what people know or are likely to find out about them. For example, their social images constrain the range of impressions they even try to make. Modest self-presentations make a great deal of sense if others already hold a favorable impression of the individual. Not only do people respond favorably to slight modesty but little is to be gained by trying to make an increasingly positive impression on those who are already impressed. This chapter examines the causes of self-presentational predicaments, explores people’s emotional reactions to such events, and discusses the self-presentational tactics people use to repair the damage that predicaments cause. A special type of predicament is created by the existence of a physical or psychological stigma. Most people possess certain characteristics that, if publicly known, might lead others to regard them as deviant, flawed, limited, or otherwise undesirable.
