“An exploration of the low Honesty-Humility side provided valuable insight into previously unexamined, negative consequences of self-monitoring.”
Purpose: To explore whether a personality trait that has been seen as traditionally being quite positive (i.e., self-monitoring) has a dark side in the workplace.
Summary: Self-monitoring is the extent to which individuals monitor and adjust their behavior in an effort to manage their public appearance of the self. Although the majority of research has focused on the positive effect of this trait, there are negative aspects and consequences. We investigated the personality basis of the negative side of self-monitoring through two independent studies. Self-monitoring was found to be associated with individuals who were extroverted, honest, and humble. Interestingly, self-monitors were found to be more likely to make unethical business decisions. This link may be explained by the tendency for individuals low in honesty and humility to disengage from unethical decisions as a way to minimize feelings of guilt, termed moral disengagement. The results of the present research demonstrate the negative consequences of self-monitoring and suggested implications of the dishonest side of self-monitoring in multiple domains of social life. This is particularly important, given the many positive career outcomes that people high in self-monitoring enjoy.
Practical Implication: We may highly value social chameleons in our organizations, but there may be a dishonest side to these individuals, and this may manifest in a tendency to make more unethical decisions.
Summary of Ogunfowora, B., Bourdage, J. S., & Nguyen, B. (2013). An exploration of the dishonest side of self‐monitoring: Links to moral disengagement and unethical business decision making. European Journal of Personality, 27(6), 532-544.
