Choosing Social Situations: Two Investigations of Self-Monitoring Processes

Two investigations examined the processes by which individuals choose social situations. In the first investigation, participants chose to enter or not to enter a situation that called for behavioral expressions of extraversion. For high selfmonitoring individuals, 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 individuals, willingness to enter this situation was a direct reflection of their personal dispositions within the domain of extraversion and introversion. In the second investigation, participants 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 high self-monitoring individuals were of relatively clearly defined character. The transformed situations of low self-monitoring individuals were relatively congruent with their own extraverted or introverted dispositions. The processes by which high self-monitoring individuals and low self-monitoring individuals facilitate the enactment of their characteristic behavioral orientations are discussed.