Affective Consequences of Self-Monitoring Style in a Job Interview Setting

Abstract

Two experiments examined the affective consequences associated with self-monitoring in a job application context. Study 1 examined reactions of high and low self-monitors to slides of interviewers whose faces fit or did not fit an occupation. It was hypothesized that high self-monitors would experience the most negative affect when the face did not fit the occupational stereotype because such a mismatch would provide unclear or conflicting cues for expected behavior, whereas low self-monitors would experience the most negative affect when the face matched the stereotype because expectations for stereotypical behavior would constrain their expression of self. Results confirmed the hypotheses. In Study 2, subjects were asked to give the "right answers" on a personality test to get a job which either fit or did not fit their personality. Low self-monitors, more concerned with accurate self-presentation, experienced heightened negative affect if the job did not fit their personality, whereas high self-monitors who are accustomed to controlling their self-presentation experienced less negative affect. In both studies, situational cues or demands that conflicted with the motivational concerns of self-monitoring style differentially produced negative affect for high and low self-monitors. Implications of making hiring decisions on the basis of interviews and other devices subject to impression management were discussed.