Do First Impressions Count? A Gendered Comparative Analysis of Self-Presentations by Contestants in the Bachelor and Bachelorette South Africa

Authors

Mthobeli Ngcongo Dr, University of JohannesburgFollow

Abstract

The study of social role expectations for men and women has been instrumental in a better understanding of intersex dynamics. Although much research has focused on behavioral similarities and differences in formal contexts, qualitative research that helps us to understand gendered differences in informal contexts remains underappreciated. In particular, the area of romance presents a fruitful social context in which to comparatively study gendered manifestations of strategic self-presentation. Using the first episodes of the first seasons of the Bachelor and Bachelorette South Africa reality television franchise, this study compares 28 self-presentation tactics used by 17 male and 24 female contestants. Textual analysis suggests minor similarities in how self-presentation is used by men compared to women and stark differences that support social role theory’s supposition of different behavioral expectations for the two genders. That is, men seem to use more self-presentation tactics and with greater intensity compared to women to successfully make a good first impression. The men’s self-presentation efforts conform to social role expectations for men in romantic contexts.

Keywords

impression management, gender, reality television, dating, love, textual analysis

Author Bio(s)

Mthobeli Ngcongo is a Senior Lecturer in the University of Johannesburg’s Communication and Media Department where he teaches both undergraduate and graduate cohorts. With over a decade of teaching and research experience, Mthobeli has maintained a high graduate throughput and consistent publication profile. He holds a Doctoral degree in Communication Theory specializing in Intimate Interpersonal communication and Relational Dialectics. Mthobeli has headed NRF funded projects including the DST Innovation Award, Black Academic Advancement Program (BAAP) and Thuthuka Grants. His research interests include reality dating television, love themed media texts and audience reception as well as participation, relational dialectics in intimate communication, impression management, similarity and difference in intimate contexts, critical media production, multimodal critical discourse analysis. Please direct correspondence to mthobelin@uj.ac.za

Publication Date

7-7-2025

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2025.5257

Recommended APA Citation

Ngcongo, M. (2025). Do first impressions count? A gendered comparative analysis of self-presentations by contestants in the Bachelor and Bachelorette South Africa. The Qualitative Report, 30(6), 3784-3799. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2025.5257

ORCID ID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9309-7483