ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with issues of agency and self-regulation. Heightened self-awareness refers to those times when one's conscious attention is directed toward some aspect of the self—one's behavior, mood, physical appearance, bodily functions, physical sensations, and so forth. A number of studies have shown that heightened self-awareness increases the extent to which people's behaviors conform to standards. A wide variety of situational factors can induce self-awareness—seeing one's image in a mirror, experiencing a sharp change in one's physical state, standing in front of an audience, being videotaped, or hearing one's name called out. Deindividuation involves environmental conditions that shift one's attentional focus away from the self and toward the environment. Self-focused attention can be an enriching and enlight-ening experience, promoting self-exploration, growth, and integration, and magnifying positive moods. The construct of self-monitoring has been the focus of considerable research in social psychology since its introduction over twenty years ago.
