person-situation debate

Definition. n. The person-situation debate was a controversial discussion that lasted two decades and dealt with the relative influence of both personal, internal factors (such as personality, thoughts, feelings, attitudes) and external, situational factors on a person's behavior. Some psychologists strictly believed that personality alone influenced behavior, while others thought that only the situation influenced behavior. Presently, it is generally accepted that both personality and the situation interact to produce behavior; thus both must be taken into account when attempting to predict behavior.

Explanation. Trait theories of personality psychology contend that each person possesses certain stable, identifying characteristics (i.e., personality traits) that make him or her who he/she is and that determine what he/she does. For example, a well-known personality trait is extroversion. A person may either be extroverted and outgoing or more shy and introverted. Personality traits influence behavior. Extroverted people tend to enjoy getting attention, meeting new people, and attending large gatherings. Introverted people are just the opposite: they tend to prefer small-group events, are more likely to be shy, and do not like to be the focus of attention. Various personality traits have been shown to predict such behaviors as helping, conformity, aggressiveness, and prejudiced behavior.

Knowledge of people's personalities does not allow the prediction of their behavior in all circumstances. If observed over time, people are bound to have inconsistencies in their behavior. For example, though an individual may have an introverted personality, the person may behave in an outgoing fashion around family members and close friends. Further, the person's job may require acting in an outgoing manner when he or she normally would not choose to do so. Therefore, it has been noted that the situation the person is in must also play a role in influencing behavior.

This observation that people behave differently in different situations resulted in a debate called the “person-situation controversy,” which lasted two decades and involved the discussion of when personality versus the situation could be used to predict behavior better. Some psychologists (termed behaviorists) thought only the situation influences behavior. At the same time, other psychologists specializing in personality believed that internal personality characteristics had more influence on behavior. The eventual compromise was the determination that both personality and the situation influence behavior, though the relative effects of personality and the situation change with circumstances. There are certain conditions under which an individual's personality is more likely to influence his/her behavior than the situation he/she is in now. Such circumstances may involve situations when the individual is displaying a strong or dominant personality trait, when the situation is not putting any pressure on the individual to behave in a certain way, when the individual does not care about how his/her behavior fits into the situation, or when the individual's behavior is being observed over time across several situations. When none of these conditions is met, the person is more likely to behave in a way that fits the current situation rather than his/her usual, personality-driven way of acting.

Carefully controlled experimental research allows the identification of the importance of the situation versus personality in the prediction of a person's behavior. After creating two or more different situations, the experimenter exposes each participant to one of the situations and then measures the participants’ behavior. If the participants’ behavior differs as a function of which situation they were exposed to, the experimenter determines that this situational difference does influence behavior. To determine the relative importance of the situation versus personality in determining behavior, the researcher can measure personality characteristics with personality scales and manipulate the situation to determine whether personality or the situation better predicts behavior. In general, it is important to have good measures of behavior as well as good measures of personality. There are many scales available for measuring various personality characteristics. Further, if one is trying to measure the way a person usually behaves, multiple people who know the individual well should be asked about his or her typical behavior. The behavior should also be something that can be observed directly, and it should be related to the personality characteristic of interest. The behavior should also be recorded across several situations.

Development and details. Some situations are more influential on behavior than are others. These situations may be those with which the person is less familiar or which may require more formal or specific behaviors. Examples of these types of situations are job interviews and church. In these types of situations there tend to be strong situational cues (there is an expectation for a certain type of behavior), and the individual's personality will tend to influence behavior less than those situational requirements. However, if the person is in a familiar situation (among family and friends), his/her personality is more likely to influence behavior. Consider how a person's behavior would differ if he/she were among friends compared to on a job interview. Even if the person is normally a relaxed, happy-golucky person, in an interview it is likely that he/she will be somewhat anxious and on edge. In a job interview, the person would also try to be as professional and polite as possible, while with friends, he/she might tease and make silly jokes. So knowledge of the person’s happy-golucky personality would lead to the prediction of his/her behavior better when the person is among friends than in a more formal job interview setting. Similarly, while some people might have personality tendencies that lead them consistently to exhibit either helpful or aggressive behaviors, the situation can also influence their behavior, making that personality tendency more or less pronounced. For example, even a very helpful person may become unhelpful and dismissive if he/she is very busy or upset about something.

Some personality types also influence the person to react more or less to situational pressures. In effect, just having the specific personality characteristic makes the situation more or less influential on behavior. The trait of self-monitoring is one example of this type of personality characteristic that affects how influential the situation is. People who have a high level of this trait care a great deal about what other people think about their behavior and want to ensure that their behavior fits the situational demands. These people will be vigilant about monitoring and adjusting their own behavior so they fit in and will be accepted. Because of this constant monitoring, people who have a high level of this trait have a tendency to behave differently on the basis of situational cues. Their behavior is likely to be very different across various situations. People who have a low level of this trait, on the other hand, are not as concerned about fitting their behavior to the situation. These people's behaviors are more likely to be consistent across situations (around different groups of people), and these consistent behaviors are judged to be influenced by the persons personality.

Personality traits also exist in varying degrees. Some personality traits are stronger in some people than in others. For example, one person may be somewhat assertive, while another person may be domineering. When a personality trait is considered strong, or dominant, in a person, that personality trait is more likely to influence the person's behavior across various situations. A person could be very open to new experiences, and somewhat introverted. This person would be expected to be open to the new experiences present in many situations, but he/she would only be expected to be introverted some of the time. Personality traits can also be strong across individuals. An example of this is people's expressive traits, which are displayed in a person's speech, mannerisms, and gestures. Expressive traits are considered strong across individuals because most people tend to use the same types of ways to express themselves across different situations. A person with a very apathetic personality will generally speak in a very monotonous voice and seem bored or practically lifeless in his or her expressions no matter the situation. This is because the strong traits will influence behavior more than the situation. On the other hand, the situation has a greater influence on whether weak personality traits will be displayed. For example, people differ in how concerned they are with impressing others. Those people who are concerned with the impressions they make are more likely to behave differently around people they do not care about impressing (strangers) and those they do (their spouse's friends and family). Thus, the situation makes a difference in the behavior they display.

In addition, personality is a better predictor of behavior across multiple situations than in any one specific situation. In each specific situation, there could be some particular aspect of the situation that influences behavior dramatically. Looking at the way a person behaves on average (across situations) allows us a look at his/her personality and its relationship to the person’s behavior. For example, a person who is conscientious may not remember to complete a particular assignment at one point in time, but over time the person's behavior will tend to be conscientious (e.g., usually gets homework done on time, attends class regularly, pays bills on time).

Overall, it turns out that personality and the situation are equally important in predicting behavior. The two have a similar overall influence on a person's behavior. Knowledge of either relationship (personality or the situation) with behavior allows researchers to predict behavior accurately approximately 70% of the time. Although both are important predictors of behavior, either can be more useful in particular instances. For example, it is more useful to use personality to predict a person's behavior across many situations (or how he/she will usually act). Personality is more likely to be a better predictor of behavior in specific situations if the personality characteristic is considered to be dominant in that person, if the situation is a comfortable one for the person, or if the person does not care what kind of impressions are being made. However, it is usually difficult to use personality to predict behavior in a specific situation because there could be some special aspect of that situation that causes the person to alter behavior radically. For example, even an extremely talkative person may be quiet at the library or at a funeral. The situation will play a greater role in the prediction of behavior if there are set social rules to follow or if the person is worried about the impression being made.

While it is true that the situation influences behavior, the individuals’ personality has an effect on the situation as well. For example, people with certain types of personalities are drawn to certain situations over others. People with extroverted personalities are more likely to be drawn into very social situations. Being in particular situations also influences the behaviors people will exhibit. Being in a social situation allows a person to display more outgoing behaviors than being at the library. Behaving a certain way can also influence the situation. Behaving in an outgoing fashion tends to attract other people into conversation. Merely displaying outgoing behaviors may increase the likelihood that the person will display such behavior in the future (thus making his/her extroverted personality stronger). – VKP, LAB