Erving Goffman's Effect On The Front Stage

According to Erving Goffman, social interaction is almost similar to a theatre, at the same time people in daily life are likened to be actors on stage, each playing variety of roles. There are individuals who observe the role-playing an react to the performance as the audience. In social interaction, just like in theatrical performance, there are three regions, each with different effects on an individual’s performance : front stage, back stage, and off-stage. The situation that an actor formally performs and adheres to conventions that have meaning to the audience is considered as the front stage. The actor knows he or she is being watched and therefore acts accordingly. At the back stage, actors will behave differently than when in front of the crowd of audience on the front stage. This is where an individual truly express himself or herself and get rid of the roles that he or she play when they are in front of other people. Finally, off-stage is where an individual actors meet the audience members independently of the team performance on the front stage.

Many politicians have their own family and they perform differently in different situations. Just like performing on the stage, different performances are presented to different audience according their needs. For example, a politician will perform as an ambitious and inspired leader in front of the mass people. However, they will behave to be mean and aggressive to the opposing party members. These two examples are to be said as the front stage role play. Moreover, they would not behave what they behave in politics towards their family members and they beloved, where this is the back stage. Therefore, we can conclude that the behaviours of politicians are dependent to situations, and the application of impression management is tremendously important to the