Your Public Persona

Humans are social animals, and the impressions we make on others can critically impact the quality of our lives. Consequently, we spend much of our lives, both consciously and unconsciously, working to shape other people's ideas about who we are. In this eye-opening, 12-lecture series with Professor Leary, explore the "self-presentational underpinnings of human behavior" as well as the what, how, and why of impression management. People form impressions of us—who we are and what we're like—very quickly and, right or wrong, those impressions determine significant aspects of our outcomes in life, both in the present as well as the future. In just a few short minutes, others assess our personality, interests, attitudes, and moods, taking into account everything from the content of our words to the style of our clothing, and much more. Sometimes their assessments are accurate, other times less so, but the impressions other people form of us significantly impacts how they treat us. Social interactions and the impressions that drive them are vitally important aspects of human behavior. In this compelling course, learn about how we shape the impressions other people form of us—at work, at home, in our social lives, and in the world at large.