An Exploration of Diversity and Self Monitoring

Today we live in a world that undeniably diverse, especially in the United States of America. We strive to have a peaceful coexistence of diverse ethnic groups, as we embrace our similarities yet still hold our differences close. Historically, the United States has had to deal with many issues of racism and ethnic diversity, as immigrance has taken place which has been chosen or forced for many people. Now, we currently hold a heightened awareness of diversity, and start a discussion of how to approach ethnic diversity. Many feel that we should hold a ?colorblind? view, where all should be seen as equal, regardless of race, color, sex, or creed, while others feel that we should approach things with a more ?multicultural? view point in which we embrace our differences. Our views on diversity also may be influenced by our levels of self monitoring, the degree to which we watch out our own internal actions. This study hopes to explore the correlation between self monitoring and feelings towards diversity in terms of both colorblindness and multiculturalism.

[...] We embrace our cultural diversity on campus as we feel that we should embrace all of the cultural differences of our students, staff, and faculty. The minimum graduate admission requirements are: a bachelor's degree or recognized equivalent from an institution; enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in your chosen field; and a satisfactory scholastic average, usually a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 Satisfying minimal standards however does not guarantee your admission, since the number of qualified applicants far exceeds the number of places available. [...]

[...] Self monitoring is the difference and the extent to which people internally watch their ideas and their image that they present to others (Czellar, 2006). One who is a high self monitor is able to modify their behaviors so that they fit into a certain social setting, as they pay attention to social cues of acceptance from others and are able to control their behavior to receive the public image that they desire to portray. They do not change to serve another, but more to serve themselves by being consistent with social norms and fitting in better (DeMarree, 2005). [...]

[...] Upon completion of the implicit and explicit tests, they will be given a self monitoring scale. The IAT uses pictures of both blacks and whites and then words that can either be positively or negatively connotated. The participant is supposed to select a key (one being good and one being bad depending on the stimulus) as fast as they can upon seeing the stimulus. First they are supposed to associate white with good and black bad and in a second round the roles reverse and white with bad and black good. [...]