Appraising the Duality of Self-Monitoring: Psychometric Qualities of the Revised Self-Monitoring Scale and the Concern for Appropriateness Scale in French

Revising Snyder’s (1974) original Self-Monitoring Scale, Lennox and Wolfe’s (1984) double-sided approach distinguishes two aspects of self-monitoring: (a) the active, high self-esteem, and extrovert side, measured by the Revised Self-Monitoring Scale (RSMS); and (b) the protective, low self-esteem and anxious side, measured by the Concern for Appropriateness Scale (CAS). This study aims at moving forward the assessment of self-monitoring by providing a valid French translation of these two scales. Six hundred and 34 participants were asked to complete the RSMS and the CAS, as well as other measures to assess construct validity. Distribution, scale score reliability, temporal stability, and factor structure were examined. Using a split-sample procedure, construct validity was also investigated, using several criteria (self-esteem, social desirability, extraversion, openness, trait anxiety, self-consciousness, gregariousness, straightforwardness), including new criteria that provide a more accurate definition of the two underlying constructs. The French RSMS and the French CAS replicate the psychometric properties of the other versions (Bachner-Melman, Bacon-Shnoor, Zohar, Elizur, & Ebstein, 2009; O’Cass, 2000) and appear to be psychometrically robust. Strengths, weaknesses, and potential uses of both scales are discussed.