Professional Identity In Impression Management

Professional identity is a critical aspect in the field of medicine. Interwoven with ambiguity, complexity, and inconsistencies daily in the clinical practice, physicians face extreme stress while interacting with a variety of people. Additionally, as caretakers of patients, there are mental and emotional expectations that arise and differ from patient to patient. Therefore, physicians, in order to maintain professional identity and self –identity between their personal and professional worlds, engage in impression management. Erving Goffman coined the term “Impression Management,” to refer to the ways in which people behave to influence the ways in which other people perceive of them during social interactions. Impression management is a critical
Commonly known as “quacks”, doctors are expected to be diligent and informative while with patients, however, there are many moments when a mask is necessary in order to hide the inner feelings. In Alan Astor’s research of Dr. Danielle Ofri’s personal experience in the medical field, he notices the emotional attachments that Dr. Ofri has for her patients. Dr. Ofri suffers heartache every time one of her patients dies. Alan proposes a boundary between the patient-doctor relationships while emphasizing the importance of impression management. He promotes the use of impression management to remain emotionally regulated for the physicians to successfully endure in a stressful career. Also, in the research of Moral Stress in End-of-Life Care in the Intensive Unit Care Unit, it emphasizes that physicians, oftentimes, face moral stresses. More importantly, it “alerts healthcare professionals […] to an otherwise under-recognized, but potentially detrimental experience” (1869). From its firm implications, dramaturgy is a critical to sustain a healthy emotional outlook. Not only is impression management advantageous for patient care, but it is also beneficial for the physician’s mental and emotional