ITie purpose of this paper is to examine the usefulness of factor analysis in developing and evaluating personality scales that measure hmited domain constructs The approach advocated follows from several assumptions that a smgle scale ought to measure a smgle construct, that &ctor analysis ought to be applied routinely to new personality scales, and that the factors of a scale are important if it can be demonstrated that they are diiFerenbally related to other measures A detailed study of the Self-Monitonng Scale illustrates how &ctor analysis can help us to understand what a scale measures A second example uses the selfesteem hterature to illustrate how factor analysis can clarify the proliferation of scales within a single content domain Both examples show how fJEictor analysis can he used to identify important conceptual distinctions Confirmatory techniques are also introduced as a means for testing specific hypotheses It is concluded that &ctor analysis can make an important contnbuhon to programmatic research m personality psychology One of the major research traditions m personality psychology has been the measurement of individual differences Rather than attempting to create vanance between groups through the use of expenmental manipulation and control, personality researchers typically focus instead on measunng existing vanation across individuals Consequently, statistical analyses more often involve measures of relationship (e g , correlatWHi coefficients) than tests of mean differences (e g , analysis of vanance) In the terminology of Cronbach's (1957) classic article, personality is part of the "correlational" (as opposed to the expenmental) discipline of psychdogy Consistent with this emphasis on a correlational or differential research strategy, personahty psychologists have gravitated toward statistical techniques that allow them to examine xaore thoroughly and moare ngorously the relaticniships m multivanate data sets Factor analytic proHie authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments of

Two studies investigated the relationship between shyness (tension and inhibition when with others) and sociability (preference for being with others rather than being alone). A factor analysis of shyness and sociability items revealed two distinct factors indicating that shyness and sociability are distinct personality dispositions. Self-reported shyness showed only a moderate negative correlation with self-reported sociability (r = -.30). Furthermore, the measures of shyness and sociability had different patterns of correlations with other personality scales. On the basis of these findings, we concluded that shyness is not just low sociability. Next, four groups of subjects were selected: shy-sociable, shy-unsociable, unshysociable, and unshy-unsociable. Pairs of these subjects, matched for both traits, interacted for 5 minutes. Shy-sociable subjects tended to talk less, avert their gaze more, and engage in more self-manipulation than did the other three groups. In studying social behavior, we evidently need to know not only whether subjects are shy but also whether they are sociable.This paper is based on the first author's master's thesis; the second author was the major adviser for the thesis. We thank Stephen Briggs, Robert Helmreich, John Johnson, and Bill Underwood for their helpful comments on earlier versions of the paper.David Drum and Richard Klein of the Counseling Center of the University of Texas generously provided the videotape equipment and the rooms used in Study 2. We would like to thank Walter Halpenny, Judy Henning, Tim Herfel, and Inez Yarburough for their assistance in conducting the experiment.

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A factor analysis of the Self-Monitoring Scale yielded three replicated factors: Acting, Extraversion, and Other-Directedness. Acting includes being good at and liking to speak and entertain. Other-Directedness is a willingness to change one's behavior to suit other people, and Extraversion is self-explanatory. Other-Directedness correlates positively with Shyness and Neuroticism and negatively with Self-Esteem. Extraversion correlates negatively with Shyness and positively with Self-Esteem and Sociability. Two of the scale's three factors, therefore, have opposite patterns of correlations with other personality dimensions. The three distinct factors help to explain certain discrepancies found in previous research with the Self-Monitoring Scale. For future research, we suggest that scores for each of the factors are more appropriate than full scale scores. We conclude that there may be a gap between the construct of Self-Monitoring and how it is operationalized in the scale.Stage actors make gestures, speak dialogue, and respond to cues-all in the service of portraying a particular character or role written by the author. Several decades ago, Erving Goffman (1956) used the stage metaphor to characterize the way each of us acts in social contexts. He suggested that we behave the way others expect us to, that we are alert to subtle cues in our social environment, and that in general we engage in self-presentation.A sociologist, Goffman ignored individual differences, but surely people vary in the extent to which they stage-manage their social behavior. To assess such individual differences, Mark Snyder developed the Self-Monitoring Scale (1974). A description of the high selfmonitor is also a definition of the concept:The prototypic high selt-monitoring individual is one who, out of concern for the situational and interpersonal appropriateness of his or her social behavior, is particularly sensitive to the expression and self-presentation of relevant others in social situations and uses these cues as guidelines for selfmonitoring (that is, regulating and controlling) hisWe thank Robert Helmreich and John Loehlin for their generous assistance.Requests for reprints should be sent to Arnold

We investigated the evidence for a general factor of self-monitoring in six samples (N = 3,615). The results indicate the presence of two, relatively orthogonal, major factors (General Factors A and B). General Factor A, which presumably accounts for most of the empirical validity of the scale, correlated strongly with measures of the traditional personality dimension of social surgency such as exhibitionism, social potency, and extraversion. General Factor B is a weakened version of an earlier identified Other-Directedness factor, and it correlated positively with shyness and negatively with self-esteem. Additional analyses examined the 18-item revision of the Self-Monitoring Scale in terms of the extent to which it strengthens General Factor A, its relationship to the original version, its factor structure, and correlations with other personality measures. We discuss three flaws in the construct of self-monitoring: its assumption of the bipolarity of social and personal orientations, its assumption of uniformity among those who score high on the Self-Monitoring Scale, and its lack of clarity concerning the role of intentionality in self-presentational processes. We suggest that it is time to move beyond the construct presented by Snyder (1987) toward a more comprehensive investigation of self-presentation and social behavior.