What is the presentation of self?

Erving Goffman was a major proponent in the field of Symbolic Interactionism. He put forward the concept of dramaturgy and this concept is used to study social interactions.

In Goffman's theory of 'Presentation of Self in Everyday Life,' he uses the example of a theatre to explain individuals' everyday interactions. According to him, social life is a performance carried out by the participants in different stages: front stage, backstage, and off-stage. 

According to the Presentation of Self-theory, Goffman states that the process of self-presentation occurs when an individual conveys specific information about himself and tries to portray himself in a certain way in a given social context. The individual instinctively tries to match the expectations of the audience. Individuals try to construct a self-image through the social interactions that they go through. They carry this self-image and act according to a given situation. Self-presentation can be either defensive or assertive. Defensive strategies use methods like defiance, while assertive techniques use methods like the utilization of status symbols.