Self-report measure

Self-Monitoring

Self-Monitoring uses 10 International Personality Item Pool statements to assess Self-Monitoring. Respondents complete 10 items using 1–5 ratings. Keyed responses are summed for the reported scale score.

At a glance

Items
10
Response scale
5-point (Very Inaccurate … Very Accurate)
Est. time
~1 min
Norms
Referenced (N = 531)
Access
Free, self-serve

What it measures

Self-Monitoring is administered here as one of the International Personality Item Pool's single-construct scales: original public-domain items catalogued at ipip.ori.org (Goldberg, 1999) and keyed to one specific individual-differences construct, rather than belonging to a broad multi-factor inventory. This form presents 10 items rated on a 5-point scale; responses are summed in the keyed direction after any reverse-worded items are recoded.

The IPIP catalog lists this item set against an established source inventory — Snyder, 1974. The IPIP statements are original public-domain items keyed to the same construct: scores here are not scores on that source instrument, and findings published for the source instrument should not be transferred to this form without independent evidence.

Psychometric properties

The notes below are reproduced from the platform's psychometrics register for this instrument — the same source-cited reliability, validity, and norms text that accompanies its downloadable report.

Snyder (1974) reports adequate internal consistency for the original Self-Monitoring Scale. IPIP-based 10-item operationalization; reliability of this exact item set is not separately published.

Self-monitoring — sensitivity to social cues and tendency to adapt one's self-presentation accordingly — shows convergent validity with social role-playing ability and responsiveness to situational norms (Snyder, 1974).

Scores are expressed as percent-of-maximum on the 1–5 accuracy scale using Higher/Average/Lower bands. No published normative tables exist for this specific IPIP operationalization.

Example item

“Would make a good actor.”

Very InaccurateModerately InaccurateNeither Accurate nor InaccurateModerately AccurateVery Accurate

Illustrative only. During administration items are presented one screen-set at a time; response-key direction is never shown to respondents.

Scoring & interpretation

Item responses are summed within each scale (reverse-keyed items recoded first) and expressed as a population percentile against the cited reference sample, with a reliability-based confidence range where α is published.

Psychometrics & norms

ScaleMSDNαMetric
Self-Monitoring23.627.405310.82summed raw

Norms computed from the Eugene-Springfield Community Sample (ESCS) — Lewis R. Goldberg’s adult community panel from Eugene and Springfield, Oregon (Harvard Dataverse, doi:10.7910/DVN/UF52WY). This is a community sample and is NOT nationally representative. The mean, standard deviation, reference N and Cronbach’s α were computed directly from the raw IPIP item-level responses on THIS scale’s exact item set and reverse-keying (complete cases); reference N varies by scale and is shown with each scale below. The confidence range uses the standard error of measurement (SEM = SD·√(1−α)) from that computed α.

Source & citation

International Personality Item Pool (ipip.ori.org). Source scale: Snyder, 1974.

References

  1. Snyder, M. (1974). Self-monitoring of expressive behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30(4), 526-537.
  2. Goldberg, L. R. (1999). A broad-bandwidth, public domain, personality inventory. Personality Psychology in Europe, 7, 7-28.