High and low self‐monitoring individuals: Their decoding skills and empathic expression

Abstract

Abstract An investigation was conducted into the relation between self‐monitoring and the ability to interpret vocal expression and to communicate empathy in a dyadic interaction. In the first part of the study, participants who had completed Snyder's Self‐Monitoring (SM) Scale were tested for their ability to interpret the intended meaning in 20 recorded sentences in which the speaker, by changing voice Intonation, inflection, and affective presentation, conveyed a particular meaning to each sentence (Inferred Meanings Test). In the second part of the study, each participant was asked to submit a 3‐minute segment of an audio tape that best demonstrated his or her empathic expression in a dyadic interaction. The tapes were transcribed and raters judged each transcript for the participant's verbal expression of empathy and genuineness. The results showed a significant positive relation between self‐monitoring and the ability to decode vocal cues correctly. This finding appears to support the claim that high self‐monitoring individuals are better able than are low self‐monitoring individuals to interpret the vocal expression of others. When self‐monitoring scores were correlated with the ratings of the participants’ tapes for empathy/genuineness, a significant inverse relation was found. Thus, high self‐monitoring individuals appeared less able to impress raters as being genuinely empathic. The results of the study are discussed in the context of self‐monitoring and its relation to the ability to interpret others’ emotional expression as well as the relation of self‐monitoring to empathic processes.

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