Self-Monitoring Processes

Abstract

The chapter discusses the identification, consequences, and processes of self-monitoring. Empirical research on self-monitoring processes began with the construction and validation of the Self-Monitoring Scale, an instrument designed to translate the self-monitoring construct in an instrument that reliably and validly identifies it. Self-monitoring is the proposition that individuals can and should exercise control over their expressive behavior, self-presentation, and nonverbal displays of affect. Self-monitoring processes meaningfully channel and influence worldviews, behavior in social situations, and the unfolding dynamics of interactions with other individuals. It is the intent of this chapter to trace the origins and development of the social psychological construct of self-monitoring, to chart the behavioral and interpersonal consequences of self-monitoring, and to probe the cognitive and psychological processes of self-monitoring. The chapter provides some guidelines for conceptualizing and investigating the interplay of individuals and their situations.