Are you always trying to create a favorable impres sion, adapting your behavior to be the right person in the right place at the right time? If so, chances are you're what psychologists call a "high self-monitor." Or do you express what you think and feel without undue concern for what others may think? Then you're probably a "low self-monitor."

Either way, Public Appearances/Private Realities will give you valuable insights into how and why you act as you do in a wide range of social situations. Whether you usually attempt to control the images you convey or present your true self to the people around you, psychologist Mark Snyder shows you how to assess your behavior with respect to problems of personal adjustment, as well as in important arcas such as friendships, romantic relationships, jobs, and careers

The concept of self-monitoring has been an impor tant mainstay of psychological and sociological studies since the mid-1970s, and it provides a signifi- cant framework for examining personality and social behavior. Public Appearances/Private Realities is the first thorough, integrated look at what the theo rics, rescarch, and applications of self-monitoring tell us about ourselves and about the roles of reality and illusion in personal identity and social interaction.

It is a fascinating account that will prove invaluable to anyone who is curious about their own social behavior or about the nature of the self in general.