What Is Self-Monitoring? Examples & How To Do It

Self-monitoring enables you to be mindful of how you present yourself. It involves having self-control over your appearance, emotions, and responses to various stimuli. While self-awareness is a vital aspect of self-monitoring, it is only one piece of the larger emotional intelligence puzzle. There are many benefits to learning self-monitoring techniques. You’ll improve your self-awareness, develop interpersonal skills, change counterproductive behaviors, and better understand the impact your behavior has on your social circles.

As you embark on developing your self-monitoring skills, consider taking the HIGH5 strengths assessment. This assessment can provide valuable insights into your natural strengths and tendencies related to self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and self-regulation – all essential components of effective self-monitoring. By understanding and leveraging your unique strengths in these areas, you can cultivate a more authentic and impactful self-monitoring practice that aligns with your values and goals. You’ll learn what self-monitoring is, the benefits of self-monitoring, and understanding how much is necessary in your professional life.

What is self-monitoring?

Self-monitoring is the ability to observe and regulate your behavior, appearance, and emotions in social situations to leave a positive impression. Self-monitoring involves being attuned to the impact your decisions have on your environment and adapt accordingly. Various social, verbal, and contextual cues are considered when determining if a behavioral shift is necessary. To better understand your natural inclinations towards self-monitoring, consider taking the HIGH5 strengths assessment. Our assessment can provide valuable insights into your unique strengths related to self-awareness, adaptability, and social intelligence – all crucial elements of effective self-monitoring. By leveraging your strengths, you can navigate different situations with confidence.

Signs of self-monitoring

Now that you understand the basics of self-monitoring, you may be wondering: “How do I know if I’m already doing this?“. The psychologist who developed the idea of self-monitoring, Mark Snyder, also established an 18-item self-monitoring scale [1]. Some people tend to self-monitor regardless of the situation. Neurodivergent masking refers to the strategies and behaviors that individuals who are neurodivergent – such as those with autism, ADHD, or other cognitive differences – use to conform to societal norms or expectations. Generally speaking, self-monitoring behaviors decrease when people find themselves in a comfortable environment where they know the company well. Conversely, self-monitoring typically increases when you are under stress or pressure, such as during a job interview.

10 signs of self-monitoring

Snyder notes that the most common self-monitoring behaviors include:

1. Saying something for external approval.
2. Entertaining others and maintaining a positive atmosphere.
3. Subconsciously imitating the behavior of others
4. Asking for others’ input before making decisions
5. Asking others for advice on what to wear, ask, think, or do
6. Keeping the peace if someone disagrees with you.
7. Changing how you act depending on your environment.
8. Switching your tone according to the situation.
9. Mimicking other people’s body language.
10. Checking group and community dynamics before making a decision or comment.

Types of self-monitoring

Different behaviors fall into the wide category of self-monitoring, which can be divided into two distinct subcategories: acquisitive and protective. Their differences are listed below.

Acquisitive

When you entertain others or ask them for advice on decisions, you exhibit acquisitive behavior. This type of behavior involves attention and approval seeking. People may consider the environment before acting. This includes seeing which people will be present, where the location is, what they will be talking about, and so on. Their goal is to fit in with the group dynamics. Other potential motives for changing behavior include gaining strength, status, or attention from others. This type of self-monitoring focuses on acquiring something rather than protecting yourself from embarrassment.

Protective

On the other hand, protective self-monitoring behavior is done to protect individuals from disapproval or rejection. The process in which behavior occurs is somewhat similar to the acquisitive type. Individuals start by monitoring others’ behaviors and then replicate them or change their behavior to seem more acceptable to the group. This can sometimes be done subconsciously.

How do high self-monitors behave?

High self-monitors are individuals who are highly attuned to social cues and adept at adjusting their behavior to fit different situations. They often change their actions, attitudes, and expressions to gain social approval or to achieve specific goals within a group.

How do low self-monitors behave?

Low self-monitors are individuals who are less concerned with conforming to social norms and more likely to act according to their internal beliefs and feelings. They tend to maintain consistent behavior across different situations, regardless of external social pressures.

Pro Tip From HIGH5

Leverage your strengths, as identified by HIGH5, to understand and optimize your self-monitoring style. If you tend towards acquisitive self-monitoring, capitalize on strengths like influencing, maximizing, or achieving to channel your behavior positively. If protective self-monitoring is more natural for you, lean into strengths like empathy, restorative, or developing to build authentic connections while staying true to yourself.

What’s the theory of self-monitoring of expressive behavior?

The theory of self-monitoring of expressive behavior, developed by Mark Snyder in the 1970s, suggests that individuals vary in their ability to regulate and control their expressive behavior in social interactions [2]. High self-monitors are more likely to adjust their behavior based on external cues, while low self-monitors rely more on internal states and dispositions.

Using self-monitoring to change behavior

Self-monitoring can be a natural or acquired behavior that benefits the individual. A few behaviors you can try for self-monitoring:

Identify a target behavior

Self-monitoring behavior begins with identifying the behavior you want to replicate. To start, consider where you will be interacting. Target behaviors for a club, coffee shop, and C-Level meeting are all going to be completely different. Then, imagine who will be there with you and what you will talk about. Being more energetic in your behavior is appropriate if you’re going into a meeting celebrating your company’s wins. While you’re sitting in the meeting, monitor how other respected individuals behave. These behaviors could help you identify a behavioral role model, too.

Choose a way to record behaviors

Most people who naturally self-monitor mentally keep track of their behavior. However, making mental notes may not be the most efficient way to keep track and have self-monitoring behavior stick. Writing things down can help you keep track of the behaviors you notice. You can record your findings on a piece of paper or in an app. Record how often you perform the behavior, and for how long. Consider undergoing the same process for someone else in the room too, so you can compare your behaviors if you know you have something you’d like to work on.

Set a schedule

When self-monitoring becomes more natural to you, it’ll feel like second nature– until then, set schedules for when you will self-monitor. Select a period of time where you will focus on your behavior and write this down. When that time comes, use the same sheet of paper or document to record your behavior for that time period. This way, you can track how your behavior changes from day to day and notice any long-term patterns.

Pro Tip From HIGH5

As you work on identifying target behaviors to change, consider taking the HIGH5 strengths assessment. Understanding your top strengths can provide valuable insights into the behaviors and tendencies that come naturally to you. From there, you can strategically leverage your strengths to support the desired behavior changes more effectively.

Benefits of self-monitoring

We’ve rounded up ten more benefits that come from self-monitoring.

10 self-monitoring benefits

1. Changing negative or unproductive behavior.
2. Becoming more self-aware and building good habits [3].
3. Being more observant of others’ behaviors and societal standards.
4. Furthering your interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence.
5. Understanding how your behavior impacts others.
6. Acknowledging how to behave in specific settings.
7. Finding symptoms that may need immediate attention.
8. Planning for meeting behaviors ahead of time.
9. Preventing embarrassment or awkward situations.
10. Understanding your target behavior.

10 self-monitoring examples

Now that you understand what self-monitoring is, you may be wondering: What does self-monitoring look like in reality? Here are some relatively common self-monitoring scenarios:

1. When unsure of what to do with your hands, the individual looks to a trusted friend and mimics their position.
2. Although the individual was initially planning to vote against the strategy plan, he sees that everyone else votes for it. So, he changes his mind and votes for it as well to avoid standing out.
3. Knowing that everyone around him is a fan of a particular brand, the man says he is too, to fit in.
4. Using specific catchphrases or other forms of entertaining others to grab their attention.
5. Knowing that taking a certain political stance would please his boss, the man states his views in an inaccurate way to gain power and influence.
6. As soon as her colleagues start to get energized at the meeting, the woman matches their energy.
7. Unsure of his opinion or experience on the topic, a man asks a more experienced colleague or subject matter expert what he should know about a particular topic.
8. While a lady is usually upbeat and energized, she appears calmer in a business setting, especially when discussing company losses.
9. When the woman is extremely stressed about a difficult decision she must make, she looks to a friend for advice.
10. Subconsciously influenced by others, the man begins to speak in a tone similar to those around him.

High self-monitors vs. low self-monitors

There are benefits and drawbacks to both high and low self-monitoring. Below is a list of behaviors and facts about each type of self-monitoring so you can decide what sounds more like you.

High self-monitors examples

1. High self-monitors tend to ask others for advice or assistance when making decisions.
2. These individuals could change their opinions to fit in with the crowd.
3. In specific settings, high self-monitors behave differently than in others. They change the way they act according to the situation.
4. High self-monitors have greater self-awareness and are generally more aware of others’ behaviors.
5. Those with high self-monitoring tendencies are more aware of how their beliefs, actions, and body language influence them.

Low self-monitoring examples

1. Low self-monitors avoid seeking advice from others. They may find it unnecessary. Instead, they typically trust their instincts.
2. When in a crowd, low self-monitors stick to their beliefs. Even when they see everyone around them making different decisions or thinking differently, they do not change their views.
3. Regardless of the setting, low self-monitors tend to act in the same or similar ways. This can make them seem more authentic but also inappropriate at times.
4. Low self-monitors do not pay as much attention to their behavior. Thus, they tend to be less self-aware. They typically also have less awareness of others’ behavior.
5. Those with low self-monitoring tendencies are less concerned and less aware of how others may perceive them.

Self-monitoring FAQ

What is the importance of self-monitoring skills?

Self-monitoring serves several benefits to individuals. It helps improve self-awareness as well as social-emotional intelligence. Also, you can change specific destructive behaviors with self-monitoring.

What is a self-monitoring checklist?

A self-monitoring checklist helps you change any destructive behaviors and replace them with healthy habits. It is a written sheet or virtual checklist where you can write down your behavior for specific time slots during the day. Typically, these times are selected in advance. You can then target the behavior you want to change and continue building good habits from there.

What is the first step in self-monitoring?

The first step to self-monitoring is to choose a behavior to monitor and ultimately change for the better. This is known as selecting a target behavior. Focus on understanding what type of behavior this will be, and specify what it is exactly. It can be anything: body language, social cues, eating habits, mood-related behavior, and so on.

What are self-monitoring skills?

Self-monitoring skills include observing, assessing, and adjusting your behavior, emotions, and appearance in response to social and environmental cues. These skills help you align your actions with social expectations and personal goals.

What is the meaning of self-surveillance?

Self-surveillance is the continuous observation and regulation of your own behavior to meet external standards or avoid social disapproval; an awareness of how your actions may be perceived by others.

References:

1. Snyder, M., & Gangestad, S. (1986). On the nature of self-monitoring: matters of assessment, matters of validity. Journal of personality and social psychology, 51(1), 125–139. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.1.125.
2. Leone, Christopher (2011). Self-Monitoring. obo in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199828340-0052.
3. Gardner, B., Lally, P., & Wardle, J. (2012). Making health habitual: the psychology of ‘habit-formation’ and general practice. The British journal of general practice: the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 62(605), 664–666. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp12X659466.