[Compensatory self-enhancement as a strategy for the multiple audience problem]

This study examined how people can handle the multiple audience problem of self-presentation (Fleming, 1994), when faced with two or more audiences while simultaneously wanting each audience to form or maintain a different impression of the presenter. In the laboratory, female participants had a brief conversation with either an opposite-sex (male) or a same-sex (female) confederate. The results showed that when no one else observed the conversation, the participants presented themselves as physically attractive to the opposite-sex more than to the same-sex audience. On the other hand, when another same-sex individual was observing the conversation, the participants presented themselves to the opposite-sex audience as less physically attractive but more socially desirable and friendly. The importance of this compensatory self-enhancement strategy in the multiple-audience situation is discussed.