WHEN SELF-PRESENTATION IS CONSTRAINED BY TARGETS KNOWLEDGE - CONSISTENCY AND COMPENSATION

Abstract

90 undergraduates described their characteristics to a target person who presumably did or did not have some prior information about their personalities. If the transmitted prior information was unfavorable, Ss described themselves in terms consistent with it but appeared to compensate by enhancing their self-descriptions on traits about which the target person did not have prior information. If the information was more favorable, Ss were generally modest and self-deprecating. Ss who were privately exposed to these same personality profiles (and thus were assured that the target person would not have access to the information they contained) showed no evidence of compensatory self-enhancemen..