Social utility and social desirability of self-presentation strategies. An exploratory study.

The main purpose of this study was to identify the use of self-presentation strategies on undergraduate students and to explore the underlying dimensions of self-presentation tactics in terms of social utility vs. social desirability. These two main dimensions have been recognized by the literature on social judgments as fundamental for the production of assessments but, recently, several research lines has shown the predominant role of morality as a distinct dimension used by individuals to achieve positive evaluations. In order to investigate relations between morality, competence and sociability norms, fifty undergraduate students completed the same questionnaire three times: the first with standard instructions, the second with social utility instructions, the third with social desirability instructions. Findings suggest that students are able to making desired impressions on others with appropriate responses based on the particular purpose evokes on the instructions. Factorial analyses confirm the presence of two main dimensions that underlie self-presentation tactics. Theoretical and educational significance of the research are discussed.