Increasing demands to be seen as authentic at work have created a paradox of self-presentation for employees: the desire to be seen as simultaneously true to self and professionally appropriate in workplace interactions. The present paper introduces one way in which individuals may navigate this tension: strategic authenticity, a self-presentational approach that involves enacting behaviors intended to increase colleagues’ perceptions of one’s authenticity while accounting for individual and contextual factors that influence one’s professional image. I propose that the behavioral signals of social deviations (nonconformity and spontaneity) and self-expressions (transparency and vulnerability) increase colleagues’ perceptions of a worker’s authenticity but pose a threat to their professional image. Next, I highlight how felt authenticity and the degree of perceived violation of social expectations (i.e., benign versus taboo signal content and aligning with communal versus agentic norms) moderate the impact of signals on perceptions of authenticity and professional image, suggesting that strategic authenticity can be achieved via a careful selection of behaviors based on individual and contextual factors. Last, I consider how the enactment of strategic authenticity leads to high-quality connections at work, which over time, may lead to the formation of positive relationships (enhanced by an actor’s felt authenticity). This paper extends prior scholarship on authenticity, professional image construction, and high-quality connections by highlighting how to balance interpersonal goals to appear authentic and at the same time, maintain a desirable professional image in workplace interactions.

人们越来越要求在工作中表现得真实，这给员工带来了自我展示的悖论：他们希望在工作场所的互动中既忠于自我，又符合职业要求。本文介绍了个人应对这种紧张局势的一种方法：战略真实性，这是一种自我展示的方法，涉及制定旨在增加同事对自己真实性的看法的行为，同时考虑到影响个人职业形象的个人和背景因素。我认为，社会偏差（不从众和自发性）和自我表达（透明度和脆弱性）的行为信号会增加同事对员工真实性的看法，但会对他们的职业形象构成威胁。接下来，我强​​调感受的真实性和感知到的违反社会期望的程度（即良性与禁忌信号内容以及与公共规范与代理规范保持一致）如何调节信号对真实性和专业形象认知的影响，这表明战略真实性可以通过根据个人和背景因素仔细选择行为来实现。最后，我考虑战略真实性的制定如何在工作中带来高质量的联系，随着时间的推移，这可能会导致积极关系的形成（通过演员感受到的真实性而增强）。本文通过强调如何平衡人际目标以显得真实，同时在工作场所互动中保持理想的职业形象，扩展了先前关于真实性、专业形象建设和高质量联系的学术成果。