Definition
Performed identity is the self you curate for external confirmation — e.g. machine of determination, serious worker, engaged participant — sometimes paid for with exhaustion or missed priorities.
Origin
Goffman’s dramaturgical frame treats daily life as front-stage performance with audience management. Leary and Kowalski’s impression-management model splits motivation to impress from construction of image — the compliment you crave is often the script.
Mechanism
Compliment becomes coherence trap — evening self-punishment when the image is not fed (not tired = did not work hard enough). Pairs with Spotlight Effect (overestimated visibility) and Identity (which version shows up under cost). Attitude is the situational try-on; Posture is the embodied signal others mirror before the story stabilises — see Temperament, attitude and personality.
Applications
Write the compliment you crave; list the price you pay to keep it true; choose one habit that served only the performance.
Sources
Cite
- Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Anchor Books
- Leary, M. R., & Kowalski, R. M. (1990). Impression management: A literature review and…. Psychological Bulletin, 107(1), 34–47