Thoughts on the Self-Monitoring Scale

In Personality class, we talk a lot about traits. The Big Five. The bipolar dimensionality of it, the consistency, the stability. What interested me the most was the discussion on self-monitoring. Before this concept was introduced, studies looking at correlations and consistencies in trait behaviors found varying results. They either found high consistency or no consistency at all. It didn’t make sense. Is personality consistent or not? Why are all these high-profile studies so contradictory? But then the concept of self-monitoring emerged. It seems that some people are very consistent in their behavior on a certain dimension, and others are wildly inconsistent. These two groups of people differ in important ways.

Self-monitoring concerns expressive control. Low self-monitors tend to behave with others in a consistent way, they would seem like the same person to everyone they interact with, regardless of the context. High self-monitors find it easier to modify their behavior based on the situation. They are more cognizant of the needs and personalities of the surrounding people. As a result, they may act slightly differently towards different kinds of people, for example, they may be more reserved with their coworkers and more empathic with their family or friends.

Based on the definition and the descriptions given in class, I would consider myself a high self-monitor. So when I learned about Mark Snyder’s 1974 Self Monitoring Scale, I was eager to take it.

Snyder’s Self Monitoring Scale contains 25 true/false question items. Presumably, if you answered true to a certain threshold number of high self-monitor questions, the scale would rate you as a high self-monitor. I took the test, and it actually placed me quite low on self-monitoring! I was surprised, and a bit indignant. I felt like I have a good grasp on my behavior, and that this test isn’t purporting to measure anything unconscious. So I had my own ideas about the validity of the test.

An issue I had with the test was the dichotomous True/False questions. It labels you as either a low self-monitor or a high self-monitor. I disagree and believe that self-monitoring should be a continuum, dimensional rather than categorical. I decided to write about Snyder’s scale because I have some criticisms of the questions asked and also some suggestions for improvement. I took an especial dislike to the questions regarding being an actor. “I would probably make a good actor.”, “ I have considered being an entertainer.” Questions such as these tap into other aspects of personality that are very influential and have less to do with self-monitoring and more with introversion/extroversion and other aspects of the big five. I think I am a high self-monitor yet would and did answer “no” to these two questions.

On the other hand, I’d like to commend some of the questions, such as: “When I am uncertain how to act in a social situation, I look to the behavior of others for cues.”, which I think are excellent measures of self-monitoring without being too obvious to the layman. I also think the scale did a great job including all socially desirable questions, so there would be less chance of reporting bias.

It seems like an impossible feat to try to empirically study something as complex, subjective, and inaccessible as personality. Personality is subject to so many factors that being able to control for any variables is quite an accomplishment.

I really enjoyed learning about self-monitoring since it offers an explanation for the consistency/inconsistency discrepancy in personality psychology. Do you wonder if you’re a low or high self-monitor? Take Snyder’s test! It’s available online. I hope that in the future someone will revise the scale and come up with a self-monitoring continuum.

Snyder, M. (1974). Self-monitoring of expressive behavior. Journal of personality and social psychology, 30(4), 526.