Impression management: patient perceptions of the efficacy of psychiatric self-presentation.

The perceived efficacy of patients' attempts to influence discharge dates through psychiatric self-presentation as a function of the perceivers own self-presentation inclinations and hospital age was studied. Eighty actual patients heard one of four taped interviews on which an ostensible patient revealed plans to engage in either healthy or sick self-presentation and that the psychiatrist of this ostensible patient was either in favor of or opposed to discharge. Judgments about when the taped patient would be discharged were influenced by the taped patient's plans but not by his psychiatrist's opinion. Subjects' chronicity but not self-presentation inclinations were related to their judgments.