Impression management as a concept is certainly something that is strongly associated with the classical work of Goffman (1990a) in the context of social stigma and is perhaps most associated with his notion of ‘passing’ as it applies to those with a discreditable stigma. It is also something I have discussed in the context of welfare recipiency elsewhere (Whelan, 2021a). The various ‘masks’ people wear in presenting themselves in multiple contexts was a key concern for Goffman and something he explored much more fully in earlier work (1990b). For clarity, impression management is the process into which people enter in order to hide, or at least manage, the ‘spoiled’ or stigmatised aspect of their social identity. The data drawn on here show that many of those interviewed regularly engaged in this process in a welfare context in order to ‘maintain compliance’. I argue that this was manifestly twofold with respect to the fact that many of those interviewed found it necessary to apply these techniques to at least two aspects of their lives. First, many of the participants gave descriptions of engaging in impression management in their general day-to-day interactions in order to maintain compliance with what it means to be a ‘good citizen’ in the eyes of others and this notion of goodness is strongly tied to ideas around reciprocity and deservingness, discussed in Chapter 6. Complying with notions of goodness essentially involved managing that part of their identity associated with welfare recipiency by hiding it or by attempting to lessen its impact. This, in turn, shows not only that many of the participants have an awareness, or a perception, that the part of their identity associated with welfare recipiency is ‘bad’ or ‘shameful’, or that it may be viewed as such, but that they take steps to ensure it is managed or kept hidden altogether, evoking the concepts of both personal stigma and stigmatisation (Baumberg, 2016; Patrick, 2017). It is argued here then that these very acts, this continuous process of impression management, undertaken in order to maintain compliance with notions about ‘goodness’ or ‘good’ citizenship, is a significant part of the contemporary welfare experience. Similar themes can be found in other literature. Patrick (2017), for example, has explored ideas around ‘citizenship from below’.