Chapter 4 - The Person-Situation Debate Flashcards
What are the three different perspectives on individual differences?7
- some properties and processes are universal
- some properties differ but allow for grouping
- each individual is unique
Which perspective on individual differences does the trait approach focus on?
Each individual is unique
Why are traits so important?
They are the building blocks of personality
What two factors contribute to how consistent someone is in their personality?
- trait stability increases with age
- trait stability increases with good general mental health
In a nutshell, describe what the person-situation debate is?
What is more important for determining what people do - the person or the situation?
What is Mischel’s Personality coefficient?
R = 0.30
What are the three issues with the person-situation debate?
- does the personality of an individual transcend the immediate situation and provide a consistent guide to actions, or is what a person does utterly dependent on the situation at the time?
- Are common, ordinary intuitions about people fundamentally flawed, or basically correct?
- Why do psychologists continue to argue about the consistency of personality?
What is situationism?
The belief that behaviour is driven largely by the situation
What is the consequence if the situationists are correct?
There is no reason to study personality theories because traits and personalities do not exist
What is the first situationist argument?
Predictability - there is an upper limit to how well one can predict what a person will do based on any measurement of that person’s personality, and this upper limit is low (based off Mischel’s correlations of self, informant, and behavioural data where r = 0.30)
How can one respond to the first situationist argument?
- Unfair - selective literature review done by Mischel
2. could be due to poor methodology
What is the second situationist argument?
Situations are more important than personality traits in determining behaviour
What is the response to the second situationist argument?
- use effect size to determine effects of the situation on behaviour (we can then conclude that both the situation and the person are important determinants of behaviour)
- situations influence behaviour, but people are still consistent
What is the third situationist argument?
Person perceptions are erroneous - the professional practise of personality assessment is a waste of time and everyday intuitions about people are fundamentally flawed
What is the response to the third situationist argument?
- the effects of personality are large enough to be perceived accurately
- the importance of traits is reflected in our language (17953 trait terms)
What is interactionism?
The effect of a personality variable may depend on the situation, or vice versa
- certain types of people go to or find themselves in different types of situations
- people change the situation they are in (ex. stanford prison experiment)
What is the situationist’s view on human nature?
- people are free to do whatever they want
- everybody is equal, and differences are a function of the situation
- relieves us of responsibility if situation is all powerful
What is the personality psychologist’s view on human nature?
- behaviour is determined by personality
- people can develop consistent identities that allow them to be themselves across situations
- take ownership for action
What is the resolution of the person-situation debate?
- people can adapt to situations and have a generally consistent personal style
- people are psychologically different, and these differences matter
