Impression Management by Association: Construction and Validation of a Scale

Abstract This study describes the construction and initial validation of a scale that measures four indirect impression management tactics identified by Cialdini (1989). The scale measures the connection-focused tactics of Boasting, Blurring, Blaring, and Burying. The scale development consisted of the multiple stage process identified by Hinkin (1998). Stage 1 included holding three separate focus groups to generate the initial items. Stages 2 and 3 included two data collections to first explore and then confirm the factor structure of the impression management by association scale. A final data collection in Stage 4 assessed the convergent and discriminant validity of the impression management by association scale. Overall, the impression management by association scale satisfactorily represented the four factors conceptualized by Cialdini (1989), although more refinement is needed to better distinguish the Burying from the Blaring factor.

[1]  P. Bentler.  Comparative Fit Indices in Structural Models , 1990 .

[2]  Melenie J. Lankau,et al.  Improving Construct Measurement In Management Research: Comments and a Quantitative Approach for Assessing the Theoretical Content Adequacy of Paper-and-Pencil Survey-Type Instruments , 1993 .

[3]  James C. Anderson,et al.  STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING IN PRACTICE: A REVIEW AND RECOMMENDED TWO-STEP APPROACH , 1988 .

[4]  Mark J. Martinko,et al.  Impression Management in Organizations , 1988 .

[5]  Richard M. Steers,et al.  A Behaviorally-Based Measure of Manifest Needs in Work Settings. , 1976 .

[6]  K. Shultz,et al.  The Reliability and Factor Structure of a Social Desirability Scale in English and in Spanish , 1994 .

[7]  K. M. Kacmar,et al.  The effects of impression management on the performance appraisal process , 1991 .

[8]  M. Bolino,et al.  Measuring Impression Management in Organizations: A Scale Development Based on the Jones and Pittman Taxonomy , 1999 .

[9]  David A. Ralston,et al.  Employee Ingratiation: The Role of Management , 1985 .

[10]  G. R. Ferris,et al.  The Employment Interview: Theory, Research, and Practice , 1989 .

[11]  P. Bentler,et al.  Comparative fit indexes in structural models. , 1990, Psychological bulletin.

[12]  C. Stevens,et al.  Making the right impression: A field study of applicant impression management during job interviews. , 1995 .

[13]  C. E. Nowicki.  IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT IN THE EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW , 1983 .

[14]  R. MacCallum,et al.  THE APPLICATION OF EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS IN APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: A CRITICAL REVIEW AND ANALYSIS , 1986 .

[15]  R. Bagozzi,et al.  Representing and testing organizational theories: A holistic construal. , 1982 .

[16]  R. Cialdini,et al.  Basking in Reflected Glory: Three (Football) Field Studies , 1976 .

[17]  Robert B. Cialdini,et al.  Two Indirect Tactics of Image Management: Basking and Blasting , 1980 .

[18]  Robin M. Kowalski,et al.  Impression management: A literature review and two-component model. , 1990 .

[19]  J. Tedeschi.  Impression Management Theory and Social Psychological Research , 1981 .

[20]  Rebecca A. Thacker,et al.  An Examination of the Relationship Between Upward Influence Tactics and Assessments of Promotability , 1995 .

[21]  John E. Mathieu,et al.  Further evidence for the discriminant validity of measures of organizational commitment, job involvement, and job satisfaction. , 1991 .

[22]  Gina J. Medsker,et al.  A Review of Current Practices for Evaluating Causal Models in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Management Research , 1994 .

[23]  Timothy A. Judge,et al.  Political Influence Behavior and Career Success , 1992 .

[24]  M. Snyder.  Self-monitoring of expressive behavior. , 1974 .

[25]  Elizabeth Wolfe Morrison,et al.  Impression Management in the Feedback-Seeking Process: A Literaturereview and Research Agenda , 1991 .

[26]  B. R. Schlenker,et al.  Social anxiety and self-presentation: a conceptualization and model. , 1982, Psychological bulletin.

[27]  Gregory B. Northcraft,et al.  Conveying more (or less) than we realize: The role of impression-management in feedback-seeking , 1992 .

[28]  Gerald R. Ferris,et al.  THE ROLE OF UPWARD INFLUENCE TACTICS IN HUMAN RESOURCE DECISIONS , 1997 .

[29]  Angelo J. Kinicki,et al.  The interview process: An examination of factors recruiters use in evaluating job applicants. , 1985 .

[30]  Timothy R. Hinkin.  A Brief Tutorial on the Development of Measures for Use in Survey Questionnaires , 1998 .

[31]  Subjective Applicant Qualifications and Interpersonal Attraction as Mediators within a Process Model of Interview Selection Decisions , 1997 .

[32]  R. Cialdini,et al.  3 – Basking and Blasting: Tactics of Indirect Self-Presentation , 1981 .

[33]  Paul E. Spector.  Development of the Work Locus of Control Scale , 1988 .

[34]  B. R. Schlenker.  Impression Management: The Self-Concept, Social Identity, and Interpersonal Relations , 1980 .

[35]  R. Liden,et al.  Effects of impression management on performance ratings: A longitudinal study. , 1995 .

[36]  D. Kipnis,et al.  Intraorganizational Influence Tactics: Explorations in Getting One's Way , 1980 .

[37]  Chester A. Schriesheim,et al.  Influence tactics used by subordinates: A theoretical and empirical analysis and refinement of the Kipnis, Schmidt, and Wilkinson subscales. , 1990 .

[38]  S. Mulaik,et al.  EVALUATION OF GOODNESS-OF-FIT INDICES FOR STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELS , 1989 .

[39]  Gerald R. Ferris,et al.  Influence tactics, affect, and exchange quality in supervisor-subordinate interactions: A laboratory experiment and field study. , 1990 .

[40]  Samuel B. Bacharach,et al.  Research in the Sociology of Organization. , 1994 .

[41]  Karl G. Jöreskog,et al.  Lisrel 8: Structural Equation Modeling With the Simplis Command Language , 1993 .