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  • The other side of self-monitoring: Inhibition control in and out a social context
    Publication . Figueira, Pedro; Garcia-Marques, Teresa
    Although the Stroop effect depends on cognitive monitoring efficiency, it is not yet clear if the Self- Monitoring personality trait is related with such efficiency. Here we contrast two likely hypotheses. If we assume executive control functions to be more activated by individuals’ personality tendency to monitor their behavior, we should expect High Self-Monitors to reduce Stroop interference. However, if we assume that Self-Monitoring personality features are only monitoring social context features, it may be that High Self-monitors lack executive resources to perform a Stroop task depending on the nature of their social context. In two studies, we test these hypotheses creating a feeling of being in a social context through priming (Study 1) or by manipulating other’s presence (Study 2). In both studies we assessed High and Low Self-Monitor’s performance in a Stroop task. Results of both experiments show that while Low Self-Monitors perform better in social than in nonsocial contexts, High Self- Monitors perform worse in the social context. This pattern of results suggests monitoring activity of High Self-Monitors in the presence of others interferes with their cognitive performance in controlling Stroop interference.
  • Feeling better in the presence of others : it may depend on whether you are a man or a woman
    Publication . Garcia-Marques, Teresa; Prada, Marília; Fonseca, Ricardo; Fernandes, Alexandre
    Abstract: Previous research has suggested that it is good to have other people around us. Indeed, there seems to be a generally positive impact of the presence of others on individuals’ physical and psychological well-being. In the current work, we examine if these positive experiences may be promoted by the mere presence of nonsignificant others in our environment, during a brief period. Specifically, in two experiments, we compared how being in the presence of others (co-action) versus being alone impacts how participants feel at the moment (mood, Experiment 1) and how satisfied they feel about their lives (general well-being, Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, we also manipulated the nature of the task (i.e., demanding/ threatening vs. nondemanding). Both experiments revealed that participants feel more positive when in the presence of others. However, important gender differences occurred: mood enhancement for women (vs. men) only occurred when the task was nondemanding. In the case of life satisfaction, only women were sensitive to the presence of others. We discuss how these effects inform the social facilitation literature.