We all hold a picture or vision of ourselves. We likely have multiple visions or impressions of our physical characteristics, age, gender, culture, experiences, talents, strengths, and limitations—everything that makes up our identity.

Our vision of self may be consistent, or we may have different visions that come to the forefront in different situations or with different people. In addition, we want other people to hold our desired visions of us as well. For instance, I want my friends to see me caring, supportive, trustworthy and humorous. As an academic, I want my students and colleagues to see me as intelligent, trustworthy, and strong, as well as caring and supportive. As a daughter I want my parent to see me as supportive, knowledgeable, and caring.

These desired impressions of self are part of our identity. As a communication scholar, I want to stress that communication is central to how we view ourselves and how others view us. For instance, at work we might submit a report early to highlight our commitment to the organization. As is so often the case, communication serves double duty; for example, when we contact a friend to offer our support, we are also communicating in ways that also help create or reinforce our desired impression as a caring friend. And while others are creating their impressions of us, we are also creating our impression of them.

The desired impression of ourselves we seek to create is called face. It is possible to try and create an impression of self that is false; for instance, a person abusing alcohol may try and create an impression for their friends and family of being sober. More often, however, we are choosing certain aspects of our identity that we want to........

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