The Influences Of Self-Monitoring On Dating Behavior

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The Influences of Self-Monitoring on Dating Behavior: A Randomized Trial Some people believe that the world around us shapes us into the people we are today. Others will say that it is our characteristics and how we act in social situations that determine the type of person we are and what kind of relationships we will form with others. Research indicates this attribute as self-monitoring. There are two types of self-monitors that a person can be classified as. A high self-monitor is someone who will blend into social situations, change their behavior from situation to situation, give more nonverbal cues to show interest, and are more likely to consider attractiveness when choosing a potential partner (Leone & Hawkins, 2006). Whereas a low …show more content…

Participants filled out a Self-Monitoring Scale (Snyder & Gangestad, 1986) and based on the measurements, the participants were classified as either high self-monitors or low self-monitors. Next, a questionnaire was given about number of exclusive partners over the past year. The participants were then separated into groups based on their responses to the questionnaire. Results showed that high self-monitors tend to be in multiple relationships for a shorter duration. Low self-monitors tend to be in single relationships for longer amounts of time (Snyder & Simpson, 1984). During Investigation 4, the participants completed the Self-Monitoring Scale and also the Social Networks Questionnaire which ranked answers on a 7-point intimacy scale (Snyder & Simpson, 1984). Results were as predicted, low-self monitors indicated more intimacy in their relationships than high self-monitors. This correlates with Investigation 3, if low self-monitors are more likely to be in long-term relationships, it makes sense that they will be in relationships that contain more intimacy. It was found that high self-monitors have shorter term relationships which means their relationships will be less intimate than low …show more content…

First, Synder and Simpson hypothesized that out of the people who had been in multiple relationships over the past year, high self-monitors were more likely to have dated a larger number of partner than low self-monitors, and out of the people who had been in a single relationship in the past year, low self-monitors were more likely to have dated their partner for a longer duration than a high self-monitor. Second, Norris and Zweigenhaft speculated that high self-monitors tend to be involved in less committed relationships which leads to less trust, where low self-monitors tend to be in more committed relationships which consists of more trust. Third, Leone and Hall went a step further and hypothesized that more high self-monitoring spouses should be dissatisfied with their marital partners and divorce short occur more frequently for high self-monitors than low self-monitors. In our study of social monitoring, I predicted that students who score higher on the Self-Monitoring Scale are in shorter relationships because they value shared interests on the Social Networks Questionnaire whereas students who score low on the Self-Monitoring Scale are in longer relationships because they care about shared values on the Social Networks Questionnaire. We tested our hypothesis using the Self-Monitoring

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