Persons, situations, and the control of social behavior

2 studies investigated differences in the situational control of behavior as a result of variation in attentiveness to situational and interpersonal guides to social appropriateness. In Study 1, 28 male and 28 female undergraduates participated in a group discussion that made salient either of 2 reference groups. The effects of this manipulation on social conformity were examined as a function of self-monitoring and neuroticism measures. Social conformity of high self-monitoring and low neuroticism Ss differed reliably between discussion contexts. Low self-monitoring and high neuroticism Ss were unaffected by discussion context. In Study 2 with 90 male undergraduates, raters judged their generosity, honesty, and hostility in 9 relevant situations. A variance measure of perceived situational variability indicated that high self-monitoring Ss reported more situational variability than did low self-monitoring Ss. Implications for the interaction of situational and dispositional determinants of behavior are discussed. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).