Impression Management Tactics Employed by Primary school Heads to Influence Management and Leadership Decisions in Schools: A Survey of Two Districts in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Of late, there has been increased research interest in impression management tactics in employment interviews. This study took a detour and investigated impression management tactics used by primary school heads to influence management and leadership decisions in their schools. Underpinned by a mixed methods paradigm, a descriptive survey research design was used wherein fifty selected school heads from two districts in Zimbabwe participated in the study. The school heads responded to a questionnaire and interviews. Data revealed that school heads used self promotion, Association, ingratiation, exemplification, supplication, and intimidation tactics in rank order respectively, to build impressions around their leadership capabilities. A major conclusion was that, these impression management tactics are used differently in different organisation types. It was recommended that the study of impression management in educational leadership and management, which is currently receiving peripheral attention, should be foregrounded to enhance the practice of leadership and management in education.

İzlenim Yönetimi Taktikleri Kullanımına İlişkin Öğretmen Görüşlerinin İncelenmesi

“…Accordingly, teachers stated opinions on leaving an impression of success, avoiding appearing incompetent, giving importance to friendly relations and exemplification by way of taking part in assignments outside of work hours. Similarly, it has been indicated in various other studies on the issue (Gwal, 2015;Harris, Kacmar, Zivnuska & Shaw, 2007;Shoko & Dzimiri, 2018;Turan, 2018) that the tactics of selfpromotion and ingratiation are used more in comparison with the tactics of exemplification, intimidation and supplication. Ellis, West, Ryan and DeShon (2002) carried out a study as a result of which it was determined that the participants use impression management tactics and resort more to the tactics of self-promotion, exemplification and ingratiation.…”

“…Afterwards, the importance of impression management in behaviors displayed during interpersonal interactions was started to be realized during the 1980's (Leary & Kowalski, 1990) after which it became a key concept in organizational environments as well (Akgün, 2009;Demiral, 2013;Rosenfeld & Giacalone, 1991;Rosenfeld, Giacalone & Riordan, 1995;Ünaldı, 2005). Because individuals resort to various tactics of impression management for reasons such as obtaining financial and social benefits as well as having a positive identity accepted by others (Singh & Vinnicombe, 2001).Impression management tactics are expressed in various forms as; impression management strategies (Caillouet & Allen, 1996;Crane & Crane, 2002), impression management behaviors (Drory & Zaidman, 2007;Wayne & Green, 1993), impression management tactics (Demir, 2002;Demiral, 2013;Gilmore, Stevens, Harrell-Cook & Ferris, 1999;Gwal, 2015;Kacmar & Carlson, 1999;Kacmar, Harris & Nagy, 2007;Kasar, 2011;Lievens & Peeters, 2008;Mohamed, Gardner & Paolillo, 1999;Shoko & Dzimiri, 2018;Tsai, Chen & Chiu, 2005;Türköz, 2010). The researchers have preferred the use of the "tactic" concept in this study which has been accepted by majority of the researchers.…”

The Art of Self-Presentation: A Study on Impression Management among Academicians in Sri Lankan State Universities

“…Impression management is concerned with studying how individuals present themselves to be perceived favourable by others according to the social-psychology viewpoint (Hooghiemstra, 2000, as cited in Chaubey & Kandpal, 2017). In an advanced way, "Impression management is a goal-directed, conscious or unconscious attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event by regulating and controlling information in social interaction" (Singh, 2013, as in Shoko & Dzimiri, 2018. Dunn and Forrin (2007) demonstrate that impression management is mostly done unintentionally though people are not expecting to do so, by providing an example of how it differs the way we interact with a close friend from the way we interact with a family member.…”

“…Yilmaz (2014) notes that although the same situation individuals face, the tactics they use may differ (as cited in Yan & Ho, 2017). Consequently, the extent to which one person employs impression management strategies may differ from one person to another and also, from one organization to another (Shoko & Dzimiri, 2018).…”

“…When it comes to educational institutes, some attributes such as designation, sense, intellect, knowledge, appearance, personality, social status, economic well-being and generosity enhance impression management among academicians (Chaubey & Kandpal, 2017). Further, Shoko and Dzimiri (2018) suggest that the head positions in schools engage in impression management strategies to follow norms, to develop the identity of the school and about themselves, and to get approval from society.…”