Choosing social situations: Two investigations of self-monitoring processes

In Study 1, 125 undergraduates chose to enter or not to enter a situation that called for behavioral expressions of extraversion, as measured by the Eysenck Personality Inventory. For high-self-monitoring (HSM) Ss, willingness to enter this situation was a direct reflection of the clarity with which the extraverted character of the situation was defined. For low-self-monitoring (LSM) Ss, willingness to enter this situation was related to their personal dispositions within the domain of extraversion and introversion. In Study 2 (234 Ss), Ss were assigned to a situation and were allowed to indicate how the situation might be changed to make them more willing to enter it. The transformed situations of HSM Ss were relatively clearly defined. The transformed situations of LSM Ss were relatively congruent with their own extraverted or introverted dispositions. The processes by which HSM and LSM Ss facilitated the enactment of their characteristic behavioral orientations are discussed. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).