Self-Monitoring

Self-monitoring involves the extent to which individuals observe their own behaviors and adjust them to avoid or control undesirable actions. The psychological construct of self-monitoring, as initially proposed by Snyder (1974, 1979), seeks to differentiate individuals according to their sensitivity to social cues and their willingness to adapt their behavior to conform to the expectations of social situations. Snyder postulated that, in an attempt to uncover exactly what a particular situation calls for, high self-monitors will study situations and typical behavioral responses more often and for longer periods of time than will low self-monitors (Snyder 1987). High self-monitors are sensitive to others’ messages, including detecting them better, registering them, and responding to them. High monitors, for example, are more likely to endorse socially acceptable attitudes that they do not privately espouse, and use these attitudes to guide their behaviors (Snyder 1987; Graziano et al. 1987...