individual/situational Flashcards
individual
suggest that behaviour is the result of the person’s unique characteristics and personality
situational
suggest that behaviour is the result of the specific environment and circumstances the person is in at the time
studies that are individual
- Baron Cohen – adults with autism as less
good at recognising emotions than
‘normal’ adults or adults with Tourette’s
Milgram – 35% of participants resisted
the situational pressures to carry on giving
electric shocks to the learner, maybe due
to something unique to their personalities
studies that are situational
Grant - memory for the article was better
when they were tested in the same
environment as they studied it in (i.e.
matching noise levels)
Milgram – the participants clearly didn’t
want to give electric shocks but the
pressure of the situation led them to do so
strengths of research being individual
- Useful in placing people into jobs, etc. based
on their personality profiles - Can mean people can be held to account for
their behaviours as it allows more room for
free will - Can be more scientific to study individual
factors in a standardised way
weakness of research being individual
- It can be reductionist to assume that
behaviour comes entirely from individual
factors. - It can be socially sensitive because blame for
behaviours lies on the person themselves
rather than their environment.
strengths of research being situational
- It is easy to replicate research into the
influence of situational factors to check for
consistent patterns of behaviour. - Useful as it suggests that we can influence
behaviour by changing the situation people
are in
weakness of research being situational
- Could be used as an excuse to explain away
bad behaviour (i.e. influenced by the situation
so no to blame) - Underplays individual differences in how
people respond to the situation
