What makes Jennifer the way she is? Why does she engage in sexual behaviors that risk her life and health? Why does she always give in to sex on the first night? Jennifer is a fictional character, but in many ways, represents a sexual risk-taker. Researchers have studied these questions and more in attempt to explain why Jennifer would do such a thing. In reading over the literature, two main theories seem to appear repeatedly and have ample empirical evidence to support them. Self-Presentation and Self-Monitoring are two theories that Snyder (1974), Leary & Kowalski (1990), Snyder, Simpson, and Gangestad (1986), Seal & Agostinelli (1994), and many others have researched to attempt to answer questions like why Jennifer does the things she does and why she takes the risks she engages in. This paper will dis

As studies of self-monitoring appear in journals, one of the most untouched topics is gender differences in relation to self-monitoring. Little research has been done to measure these differences. Bell et. al. (2000) sought after answers to gender variations in self-monitoring and risk behaviors. College students in group settings completed questionnaires, including Snyder’s (1974) original Self-Monitoring Scale and a risk perception survey. The research found no evidence to support that self-monitoring operates differently in men than it does in women, with respect to risky behavior. If differences do exist, which is most likely the case in some type of context situations, further research should be conducted.

Another subtopic under self-presentation that is getting some attention lately is the fact that it is not unique to the young (Leary, Martin, & Rejeski, 2000). Research has been studied with older adults, mainly the elderly. As this review took into consideration the aspects of sexual risk-taking and self-monitoring, much research is available along all lines of consequences with self-monitoring and self-presentation, negative and positive. All in all, self-monitoring and self-presentation have a lot to do with how and why people engage in sexual behaviors, whether they are risky or not. After reviewing the literature, it’s reasonable to say that the way people perceive one another has a great impact their actions.

According to the theory of self-monitoring, people would differ in the extent to which they can and do engage in expressive control (Snyder & Gangestad, 2000). Whereas, high self-monitors are more likely to be responsive to situations, low self-monitors may express their behavior as it reflects their own inner attitude. This brings about the theory of self-monitoring being situation versus trait. Self-monitoring tries to explain behaviors of trait versus situation. It gives way to say that low self-monitors can be predicted from their traits and high self-monitors can be best predicted from features of their situations ( Snyder & Gangestad, 2000). Research on self-monitoring designed to test these and related hypotheses typically has used multi-item self-report measures to identify people high and low in self-monitoring (Snyder &

Some topics in this essay:
Self-Monitoring Scale, Kraxberger Tchividjian, Snyder Gangestad, Seal Agostinelli, , Snyder Simpson, O’Neal Schoenrock, Leary Kowalski, Martin Rejeski, Simpson Gangestad, low self-monitors, sexual behavior, snyder gangestad, sexual behaviors, snyder gangestad 2000, risky behaviors, college students, gangestad 2000, self-monitoring scale, gangestad 1986, agostinelli 1994, seal agostinelli 1994, leary kowalski 1990, snyder simpson gangestad, simpson gangestad 1986,