Self-Monitoring Scale

The Self-Monitoring Scale, introduced by Mark Snyder in 1974, measures the extent to which people observe and control their expressive behavior and self-presentation in response to situational and interpersonal cues. High self-monitors are sensitive to social context and skilled at adjusting how they come across, behaving like social chameleons whose conduct varies across situations; low self-monitors express their inner attitudes and dispositions more consistently regardless of audience. The original 25-item true/false scale was designed to be internally consistent and temporally stable, validated through laboratory and field studies of expressive control. The construct became influential in person-situation debates, attitude-behavior consistency, and research on impression management, persuasion, and relationships, although the scale's dimensionality and revisions have been the subject of ongoing discussion.