Interaction between self-monitoring and manipulated states of self-awareness.

We conducted four experiments to examine the differential responses of high and low self-monitors to variations in public and private self-awareness. The first 2 experiments used an attribution of responsibility paradigm to test the hypothesis that high self-monitors would show greater responsiveness than low self-monitors to manipulations of public self-awareness. This hypothesis was supported. Two additional experiments tested the hypothesis that low self-monitors would be more responsive than high self-monitors to manipulations of private self-awareness. Manipulations of private self-awareness following a Velten (1968) positive-mood induction exercise strengthened the induced mood in low but not in high self-monitors. Thus, when the dependent measure had implications for their public self, high self-monitors were more responsive than low self-monitors to public self-awareness manipulations; low self-monitors, on the other hand, were more responsive than high self-monitors to manipulations of private self-awareness when the dependent measure required subjects to access aspects of their private self. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence tactics, affect, and exchange quality in supervisor-subordinate interactions: A laboratory experiment and field study.

The hypothesis was tested that subordinates' impression-management tactics and performance affect supervisor–subordinate exchange quality by influencing supervisors' liking for and performance ratings of their subordinates. In Study 1, 96 undergraduates completed measures of liking, performance, and exchange quality after interacting with a subordinate who engaged in a high or low level of impression management and performed at a high, average, or low level of competence. LISREL results were consistent with the proposed model. In Study 2, 84 bank employees rated how frequently they engaged in each of 24 impression-management behaviors. Factor analysis revealed three types of tactics: job-focused, self-focused, and supervisor-focused. The employees' direct supervisors completed measures of liking, performance, and exchange quality. LISREL results indicated that supervisor-focused tactics affected supervisors' liking for subordinates, which in turn influenced exchange quality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Helping one's way to the top: Self-monitors achieve status by helping others and knowing who helps whom.

The authors argue that high self-monitors may be more sensitive to the status implications of social exchange and more effective in managing their exchange relations to elicit conferrals of status than low self-monitors. In a series of studies, they found that high self-monitors were more accurate in perceiving the status dynamics involved both in a set of fictitious exchange relations and in real relationships involving other members of their social group. Further, high self-monitors elevated their social status among their peers by establishing a reputation as a generous exchange partner. Specifically, they were more likely than low self-monitors to be sought out for help and to refrain from asking others for help. This behavior provides one explanation for why high self-monitors acquire elevated status among their peers--they are more attuned to status dynamics in exchange relations and adapt their behavior in ways that elicit status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's good for the goose may not be as good for the gander: The benefits of self-monitoring for men and women in task groups and dyadic conflicts.

The authors posit that women can rely on self-monitoring to overcome negative gender stereotypes in certain performance contexts. In a study of mixed-sex task groups, the authors found that female group members who were high self-monitors were considered more influential and more valuable contributors than women who were low self-monitors. Men benefited relatively less from self-monitoring behavior. In an experimental study of dyadic negotiations, the authors found that women who were high self-monitors performed better than women who were low self-monitors, particularly when they were negotiating over a fixed pool of resources, whereas men did not benefit as much from self-monitoring. Further analyses suggest that high self-monitoring women altered their behavior in these negotiations--when their partner behaved assertively, they increased their level of assertiveness, whereas men and low self-monitoring women did not alter their behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-monitors in conversation: What do they monitor?

164 undergraduates were administered M. Snyder's Self-Monitoring Scale and then engaged in 10-min conversations in which their same-sex partners were similar or opposite to them in self-monitoring. Conversations were videotaped, and computer techniques were used to extract content-free patterns of speech and gaze. The pace of speaking, pausing, and interrupting suggested that high self-monitors were more facile speakers than low self-monitors. Contrary to expectations, low and high self-monitors conversed easily together, and low self-monitors changed more when placed with highs than highs changed when placed with lows. Patterns of gaze were similar for low and high self-monitors, and mutual gaze among all pairs was the result of random matching of individual gazes. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-monitoring and the attitude–behavior relation.

130 undergraduates responded to 3 questionnaires over a 6-wk period before and after the 1980 presidential election. The questionnaires assessed self-monitoring tendency, attitudes, and intentions with respect to voting in the election and smoking marihuana, and included self-reports of actual behavior. Low self-monitors tended to exhibit stronger attitude–behavior correlations than high self-monitors. There was, however, no difference in the predictability of intentions from attitudes, a finding that disconfirmed the perceived relevance interpretation of the effect of self-monitoring. Instead, the difference was located in the relation between intentions and behavior; low self-monitors exhibited significantly stronger intention–behavior correlations than did high self-monitors. Findings support the interpretation that the 2 types of individuals are equally aware of the implications of their attitudes, but that high self-monitors, being sensitive to situational demands, are less likely to carry out their previously formed intentions than low self-monitors, who are more attentive to internal cues. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-monitoring and self-protective biases in use of consensus information to predict one's own behavior.

It is often important and useful for people to predict their own behavior in novel situations. Although theory suggests that such predictions should be based at least in part on consensus information, some past research in this area suggests that people ignore it. Previous investigators have argued that, instead of using cosensus information, people predict their own behavior on the basis of their personal histories. Two studies reported in this article demonstrate that people are willing to make use of consensus information in predicting their own behavior. However, self-monitoring is found to regulate consensus information use. High self-monitors are more responsive to complimentary consensus information than are low self-monitors, and low self-monitors are more responsive to threatening consensus information than are high self-monitors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of political skill on impression management effectiveness.

In this study, the authors investigated the effect of an individual's political skill on the relationships between 5 different impression management tactics (intimidation, exemplification, ingratiation, selfpromotion, and supplication) and supervisor evaluations of performance. To test these relationships, the authors used a matched sample of 173 supervisor-subordinate dyads who worked full time in a state agency. Findings showed that individuals who used high levels of any of the tactics and who were politically skilled achieved more desirable supervisor ratings than did those who used the tactics but were not politically skilled. Opposite results were found when impression management usage was low. That is, individuals who were not politically skilled created a more desirable image in their supervisors' eyes than did their politically skilled counterparts when they did not use these tactics. Practical and research implications for the findings as well as directions for future research are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexism and Beautyism Effects in Selection as a Function of Self-Monitoring Level of Decision Maker.

The authors, in two experiments, investigated the influence of the sex and attractiveness of applicants for male and female sex-typed jobs on selection decisions made by low and high self-monitors. In both experiments, attractiveness and the congruence between applicants' sex and the sex type of the job influenced selection decisions. In addition, high self-monitors were more influenced by attractiveness and sex of the applicant when hiring for sex-typed jobs than low self-monitors, but this difference in hiring pattern was not evident when the job was gender neutral. Results indicate that job applicants may encounter different employment opportunities as a function of their sex, their physical attractiveness, the sex type of the job, and the self-monitoring level of the decision maker. Implications of results are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitude and activity preference similarity: Differential bases of interpersonal attraction for low and high self-monitors.

The paradigmatic research of Byrne (1971) on the similarity–attraction relation has been recently challenged by the view that it is the similarity of people's pastime preferences more than the similarity of their attitudes that may better predict both friendship and initial attraction (Werner & Parmelee, 1979). An integration of these two views is proposed in the hypothesis that the personality variable of self-monitoring (Snyder, 1974) may moderate both the attitude similarity–attraction relation and the activity preference similarity–attraction relation in initial interpersonal attraction. An experiment is reported in which low and high self-monitors formed impressions of four same-gender persons representing each of the crossed combinations of high and low value-based attitude similarity, and high and low activity preference similarity. As predicted, for low self-monitors, attitude similarity influenced initial attraction to the stimulus persons more than did activity perference similarity, and this was expressed most strongly on attraction ratings relevent to the attitude domain (i.e., judgments of respect and inferences of intellectually desirable personality traits). By contrast, for high self-monitors, activity preference similarity influenced initial attraction more than did attitude similarity, and this was expressed most strongly on attraction ratings relevant to the activity preference domain (i.e., judgments of liking and inferences of socially desirable personality traits). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-Monitoring Without Awareness: Using Mimicry as a Nonconscious Affiliation Strategy.

This research sought to extend the current conceptualization of self-monitoring by examining whether self-monitoring motives and behaviors can operate outside of conscious awareness. Two studies examined nonconscious mimicry among high and low self-monitors in situations varying in affiliative cues. Participants interacted with a confederate who shook her foot (Study 1) or touched her face (Study 2). In both studies, high self-monitors were more likely to mimic the confederate's subtle gestures when they believed the confederate to be a peer (Study 1) or someone superior to them (Study 2). Low self-monitors mimicked to the same degree across conditions. Thus, when the situation contains affiliative cues, high self-monitors use mimicry as a nonconscious strategy to get along with their interaction partner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-monitoring and cooperation as a self-presentational strategy.

Investigated the hypothesis that cooperation may occur as a result of strategic self-presentation that is instrumental for increasing personal gain. 149 undergraduates played a decomposed Prisoner's Dilemma game with a bogus partner. The prospect of future interaction with the partner and the discernment of the partner (i.e., contingency in giving approval) were manipulated, and Ss were classified as scoring high or low on a self-monitoring scale. It was hypothesized that high self-monitors would exhibit more variability in cooperative behavior across social contexts and would be more cooperative with discerning partners and partners with whom they anticipated future interaction than would low self-monitors. As predicted, the prospect of future interaction with a partner increased the cooperation of the high, but not the low, self-monitors. Cooperation was not related to attraction for the partner (Interpersonal Judgment Scale) for either high or low self-monitors. Correlates of self-monitoring did not predict cooperation. Results are discussed in terms of individual differences in motives for cooperation and strategic self-presentation. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some effects of deception and level of self-monitoring on planning and reacting to a self-presentation.

Investigated whether type of impression intended (accurate or fabricated) and level of self-monitoring (high or low) affect the amount of information about a target person that individuals would acquire, at some cost to themselves, prior to interacting with that person. 66 female undergraduates were given the Self-Monitoring Scale 6 wks before the experiment began. As predicted, high self-monitors planning a fabrication purchased more information than high self-monitors planning an accurate impression or low self-monitors planning either type of impression. In addition, impression type affected both actors' and targets' reactions, whereas self-monitoring affected only the targets' ratings. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of reciprocity and self-monitoring on self-disclosure with a new acquaintance.

48 high- and 48 low-self-monitoring undergraduates, selected on the basis of their scores on the Self-Monitoring Scale, interacted with a confederate who self-disclosed at either a high or low level. These interactions were audio recorded in a setting lacking experimental demand to allow Ss to get acquainted. The effects of reciprocity and self-monitoring on self-disclosure were measured by ratings of audiotapes. Results show that, overall, the reciprocity phenomenon was operative, but in contrast to previous research, lower self-monitors reciprocated at the same level as their partner under conditions of both low and high disclosure, whereas high self-monitors self-disclosed at a high level regardless of their partner's disclosing behavior. This is explained by the tendency of high self-monitors to exhibit their consistent background self-presentation behavior of appearing outgoing, friendly, and extraverted in a natural acquaintance process. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship Between Self-Monitoring and Leader Emergence Across Two Task Situations.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between self-monitoring and leader emergence across two types of group tasks. Seventy-eight males and 66 females participated in same-sex, three-person groups assigned at random to either a modified brainstorming task or an anagrams task condition. Subjects' self-monitoring scores were measured prior to their group participation. High self-monitors emerged more frequently as leaders than did low self-monitors in female brainstorming groups but not in male brainstorming groups. The relationship between self-monitoring and leader emergence in male and female anagrams groups was not statistically significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-monitoring and intake interviewers' therapeutic orientations.

A therapist's theoretical orientation is likely to influence every facet of the therapeutic process. We explore the relationship of therapeutic orientation and self-monitoring style. To test the hypothesis that high self-monitors would be more eclectic than low self-monitors, we surveyed 30 intake therapists at a child guidance center. Results supported the hypothesis; those frequently using more than one orientation had higher self-monitoring scores. Furthermore, self-monitoring correlated negatively with psychoanalytic endorsement, but in a positive direction with behavioral, systems and eclectic endorsements. Results are discussed in terms of training needs of those differing in self-monitoring style. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Priming a New Identity: Self-Monitoring Moderates the Effects of Nonself Primes on Self-Judgments and Behavior.

When a construct is primed, people often act in construct-consistent ways. Several accounts for this effect have been offered, including ideomotor theory and a social functional perspective. The authors tested an additional perspective, the Active-Self account, whereby primes can temporarily alter self-perceptions. In Study 1, non-African American participants reported feeling more aggressive on an implicit measure following an African American prime. In Study 2, participants reported feeling luckier on an implicit measure following a number 7 (vs. 13) prime. In both studies, these effects were obtained only for low self-monitors, who are more likely to change self-conceptions in response to diagnostic self-information and to use their internal states in guiding behavior. Study 3 showed that low self-monitors also show larger behavioral effects of primes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-monitoring and sex as moderator variables in the statistical explanation of self-reported marijuana and alcohol use.

Examined self-monitoring (SM) and sex as moderators of predictors of self-reported use of marihuana and alcohol. SM theory implies that in comparisons between Ss high and low in SM, dispositional predictors account for more of the variance in reported use among low self-monitors and environmental predictors account for more of the variance among high self-monitors. With the 2 classes of predictors established via principal-components analysis and with subgroups defined by scores on Snyder's Self-Monitoring Scale, data from 807 college students showed that SM did not affect the action of either dispositional or environmental predictors. Thus, the SM construct promises explanatory leverage that in these tests the scale is not able to deliver. When subgroups were defined by sex, analyses of reported alcohol use yielded small but significant moderator effects: Women's use was more predictable from environmental variables, whereas men's use was more predictable from dispositional variables. These effects are consistent with the conclusions of recent meta-analyses of sex differences in conformity to group pressures. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-monitoring processes and Holland Vocational Preferences among college students.

Examined the association between self-monitoring and occupational preferences. 237 undergraduates completed Snyder and Gangestad's (1986) revised self-monitoring scale and Holland's (1977) Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI). Regression analyses showed that men who valued congruence between their beliefs and behavior (i.e., low self-monitors) preferred social occupations. Men who were inclined to modify their behavior to fit social situations (i.e., high self-monitors) preferred enterprising occupations. In contrast, high self-monitoring women preferred artistic occupations. It is argued that these gender-neutral occupations permit high self-monitoring women to use their social skills but without the constraints found in male dominated enterprising occupations. Results support the assumption that people prefer occupations compatible with their social skills. Implications for career counseling and further research are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Victimization, self-monitoring, and eyewitness identification.

38 undergraduate low self-monitors and 42 undergraduate high self-monitors (as determined by a scale of self-monitoring of expressive behavior) witnessed in small groups a staged crime of either their own wristwatches or a laboratory calculator. Campus police detectives took individual witness statements as if a real crime had occurred, and using biased or unbiased instructions, police administered a suspect-present photospread. Results show that victim witnesses who had been given biased instructions gave the least accurate identifications and that high self-monitoring Ss were least likely to reject the lineup when instructions were biased. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)