How implicit theories help differentiate approaches to online impression management: A preliminary typology

Abstract

This article proposes an empirically-grounded typology to describe how people approach online impression management across multiple digital sites given employers’ use of online information for personnel selection. Qualitative analysis revealed four primary online impression management types: acceptor, dissident, scrubber, and strategist. The four types are primarily differentiated based on people’s relatively fixed or relatively flexible implicit theories about information, technology, visibility, and identity, and whether people take passive, reactive, or active approaches to online impression management. Although research on implicit theories usually focuses on individual attributes, these findings highlight how people’s implicit theories about the context or field of communicative action work in combination to influence impression management behavior. This study suggests practical interventions to increase people’s agency and effectiveness in managing online information and provides foundations for future research on online impression, information management, and implicit theories.