Self-Monitoring

Definition

Self-monitoring is a personality trait that captures differences in the extent to which people control the image they present to others in social situations. High self-monitors are motivated and skilled at altering their behavior to influence the impressions others have of them. In contrast, low self-monitors tend to focus on remaining true to their inner attitudes by presenting a relatively consistent image of themselves to others regardless of the situation.

Background and History

The theory of self-monitoring was introduced by Mark Snyder in 1974 at a time when personality and social psychologists were grappling with two fundamental debates. First, the impact of personality traits versus the situation on behavior was a source of contention between personality and social psychologists. Second, the disconnect between inner attitudes and external behavior was also perplexing researchers at that time. Self-monitoring offered a partial resolution to these debates by introducing an individual difference variable that addressed both sides of the debate; [Page 832]self-monitoring emphasized the power of the situation on high self-monitors' behavior and the power of personality traits on low self-monitors' behavior. Moreover, self-monitoring partly addressed the attitude–behavior consistency debate because such consistency could be expected among low but not high self-monitors.

Measurement Issues

Perhaps because it dealt with such contentious issues, the theory and measurement of self-monitoring have been subject to much scrutiny and debate. Individual differences in self-monitoring are typically measured using a version of Snyder's paper-and-pencil Selfmonitoring Scale that was revised and shortened by Snyder and Steve Gangestad in 1986. There has been some debate about whether three or four components make up the self-monitoring scale. This debate prompted researchers to clearly distinguish the concept of self-monitoring from other similar concepts, most notably the Big Five trait Extraversion. Currently, the three most commonly accepted components measured by the self-monitoring scale are acting, extraversion, and other-directedness. The role of each component is generally recognized as vital for identifying and measuring self-monitoring.

Another long-standing debate in the measurement of self-monitoring concerns whether there are two distinct categories of people, high and low self-monitors, or whether there is a self-monitoring continuum. This debate reaches beyond the trait of self-monitoring to the theoretical foundations of personality psychology, and so is mentioned only briefly here. Researchers investigating self-monitoring tend to follow Snyder's original method of creating and comparing dichotomous categories of high and low self-monitoring.

Much of the work on self-monitoring was conducted in the 1980s when researchers were first identifying the implications and limitations of this trait. Research continues, further refining and applying our understanding of self-monitoring in light of modern developments in both social and personality psychology.

Importance and Implications

Self-monitoring is important for understanding how people behave in social situations. Research has examined the influence of self-monitoring in many ways, including but not limited to how people behave over time, express their attitudes, perceive social cues and others' behavior, approach interpersonal relationships, behave nonverbally, and make consumer judgments.

Because of their sensitivity to the situation, high self-monitors behave less consistently across different situations than do low self-monitors and, hence, have relatively weaker correspondence between their attitudes and behavior. In addition, high self-monitors tend to tailor the attitudes they express to correspond with those of their audience and to appreciate the effect of the social context on others' behavior. Self-monitoring also influences the types of situations people select for themselves. High self-monitors prefer to engage in situations that are clearly defined to facilitate their behavior adaptation, whereas low selfmonitors select situations that converge with their personal dispositions.

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