Self-Monitoring: Constructed Compliance

Paper Summary:

This paper describes and analyzes a study that was set up to examine the correlation between self-monitoring and compliance to help. In the study, participants are placed in situations that manipulate self-monitoring by presenting a mirror in front of them to bring about more self-awareness in the participant. The study's hypothesis is that participants will be more likely to comply to help, once placed in a high self-monitoring situation. The writer shows that the results of the experiment supported the hypothesis that participants are more likely to comply to help, when placed in a high self-monitoring situation. The writer then suggests that more tests be done with a variety of age groups, neighborhoods and cultures to get a better representation of the effects of self-monitoring in the general population. The writer concludes that such studies might be used to deter people from destructive actions such as stealing.

Outline:
Method
Design
Procedure
Measure
Results
Experiment Statistics
Discussion

From the Paper:

"Our hypothesis is that participants will be more likely to comply to help, once placed in a high self-monitoring situation. We tested our hypothesis by randomly choosing every third person that walked across the Diag to take part in our experiment. While either holding a mirror directly behind the questioner or having no mirror, we asked the participant if they would take a questionnaire. We ran our experiment on 6 males and 6 females. Three of the six males would be given the mirror condition and 3 of the 6 females would also be given the mirror condition. We found that 4 of the 6 people tested with the mirror present were willing to take the questionnaire and only 1 of the 6 people tested with no mirror present were willing to take the questionnaire."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Davis, B., Marsh, K.L., Schneiderman, W., Webb, W.M. (1989). Interaction Between Self-Monitoring and Manipulated States of Self-Awareness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, issue 1.
• Tice, D. M. (1992). Self-Concept Change and Self-Presentation: The Looking Glass Self Is Also a Magnifying Glass. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, issue 3.

More papers on Self-Monitoring: Constructed Compliance:

• Case Study # 114942 : "Self-Monitoring in the Workplace"
• Term Paper # 115264 : "Self"
• Research Paper # 110882 : "Orem's Self-Care Model"

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