Abstract
Behavioral effects of self-monitoring in the laboratory may not prove significant when individuals self-record for extended periods in their normal environments. A series of three experiments examined the extent to which a behavior's desirability or “valence” may cause it to change when self-monitored for several days in natural settings. Subjects' time awareness, the dependent variable, was measured before and after exposure to favorable, unfavorable, or neutral evaluations of time concern; half of the subjects were also told that a specific time-awareness level or goal (performance standard)was desirable. Results disclosed limitations of previous laboratory data. Valences determined only the initial direction and magnitude of behavior change; their effect after the first posttreatment day was not uniform. A valence alone maintained significant behavior change only if the change was in a direction supported by the subject's environment. A performance standard maintained change in the face of an unfavorable environment providing the subject found the standard credible. A watchbox device permitted surreptitious reliability checks: Self-monitoring proved slightly more reliable than previous research had indicated.
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This research was supported in part by the Stanford Counseling Institute. The author thanks Carl Thoresen, John Krumboltz, and Robert Calfee for their helpful comments and suggestions.
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Ewart, C.K. Self-observation in natural environments: Reactive effects of behavior desirability and goal-setting. Cogn Ther Res 2, 39–56 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01172511
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01172511