High self-monitors modulate their responses as a function of relevant social roles

We reasoned that high self-monitors' responses may be influenced by the characteristic traits and behaviors associated with social roles. Results across four studies confirmed expectations. The findings from Experiments 1, 2, and 3 demonstrated that exposure to a particular role (e.g., nurse) led high self-monitors to respond in a manner consistent with the relevant role. Results from Experiment 4 showed that the effect found in the first three experiments was attenuated when the behavioral guidance of the particular role was reduced. Low self-monitors' responses were not influenced by exposure to the role. Showing that high self-monitors use information embedded in a social role to tailor their behavior provides a novel finding that has heretofore been absent from the literature.