W12

Question 1

Kurt Lewin’s (1963) ‘field theory’

Answer 1

B = f (P, E)

Behaviour is a function of
Person (e.g., needs, belief, values, abilities, i.e., personality)
And Environment, especially the social environment (or the ‘psychological field’)

Question 2

Examples of studies that is about social influence

Answer 2

Milgram’s (1963) obedience studies

Asch’s (1951) conformity studies

Stanford Prison experiment

Question 3

The rise of situationism: Personality and Assessment

Answer 3

Walter Mischel (1968)

Two key claims:

1. Personality is a weak predictor of behaviour (r ~ .30)
2. Behaviour varies considerably over situations

Conclusion: The concept of a personality trait is “untenable”. Behaviour is largely driven by situations

Question 4

Growth of situationist “spin-off” theories

Answer 4

“The Fundamental Attribution Error” (Ross, 1977) (“correspondence bias”; Gilbert & Malone, 1995)

“The Conceptual Similarity Critique” (Shweder, 1975)

Question 5

The Conceptual Similarity Critique

Answer 5

“How people do classify” is mistaken as “how to classify people”

Coherence of personality traits (discovered by factor analysis) simply reflect judgments of conceptual similarity

Question 6

How to measure reliably, which is requisite for assessing consistency/stability (e.g., use many items on a personality questionnaire)?

Answer 6

Aggregation across measurement occasions

Aggregation increase:

(a) Stability of cross-situational behaviour
(b) Relations between other-rated personality and behaviour

Question 7

How to measure the flexibility of behaviour?

Answer 7

Experience sampling methods (ESM): Techniques for assessing behaviours/experiences multiple times per day for several days or weeks

Described their personality state expressions (e.g., extraverted behaviour) over the last hour; 4 items per big five trait

Question 8

What are the result of the study which used ESM?

Answer 8

Individuals vary over time and space in their personality state expressions

But also are highly stable

Average personality states in week 1 predicted average personality states in week 2

Question 9

Analogy for personality and behaviour/experience

Answer 9

Personality is to climate as behaviour/experience is to weather

Question 10

The “situational strength” hypothesis

Answer 10

Personality will cease to predict behaviour in “strong situations”

Question 11

A ‘strong situation’ is characterized by?

Answer 11

Clear behavioural expectations

Incentives for compliance (or threats for non-compliance)

Individual ability to meet the demands of the situation

Question 12

Situation completely drive behaviour?

Answer 12

From Milgram’s obedience study, 35% did not

Effects of personality were found:
Authoritarianism: more obedience from those who respect and value authority
Locus of control: more obedience from those with an external locus of control
Larger shocks predicted by A and C

Question 13

Is ‘situational strength’ the best way to conceptualized person x situation interactions?

Answer 13

Virtually no studies directly assess situational strength dimensions

Situationist’s description and Dispositionalist’s description are different.
They interpret the result from different perspective.

Question 14

What is Trait Activation Theory?

Answer 14

Trait-relevant situations strengthen trait-behaviour associations

‘Strong’ situations might also activate relevant personality effects

Question 15

Meta-analysis of personality and job performance

Answer 15

Some support for ‘situational strength’:
All of the big five predicted job performance more strongly in ‘weak’ job situations

Some support for ‘trait activation’:
In ‘strong’ situations that were trait-relevant, specific trait-performance effects increased
Extraversion when social skills demands were high
Openness when creativity/innovation demands were high
Conscientiousness when attention to detail required

Question 16

Interactionism today

Answer 16

Joint effects of persons and situations rather than a competition

Contextualized aspects of personality.
E.g., Characteristic Adaptations

Relations between personality and within-person variability and patterning of behavior.
E.g., Using ESM

Question 17

Questions of generality of interactionism today

Answer 17

For whom is the effect of a situation most strong?
E.g., obedience and authoritarianism

When or where is an effect of personality most salient?
E.g., Conscientiousness and job performance in specific work contexts

Question 18

Person-situation transactions

Answer 18

Situational selection

Situational evocation

Situational perception

Question 19

What is situational selection?

Answer 19

Where traits predict entering a strong or consequential situation
e.g., extraversion and being in accidents
Near-identical advertisement to the Stanford Prison Experiment

Question 20

What is situational evocation?

Answer 20

Where traits impact on the dynamics of a particular situation
e.g., effects of traits on divorce

Question 21

What is situational perception?

Answer 21

Where traits shape appraisals of a situation, and thus an individual’s experience of that situation, e.g.,
Agreeableness –> opportunities to cooperate;
Neuroticism –> negativity and frustrations;
openness/intellect –> intellectually engaging

Question 22

Social context and personality

Answer 22

Personality –> Behavior –> Social Environment –> Personality
Personality –> Behavior –> Others’ Immediate Impressions –> Others’ behavior –> Behavior
Others’ Personality –> Others’ Immediate Impressions –> Others’ behavior –> Behavior
Others’ Personality –> Others’ behavior –> Behavior

Question 23

The Big Eight “DIAMONDS” model for situational characteristics

Answer 23

Duty: A job needs to be done
Intellect: Situation includes intellectual or cognitive stimuli
Adversity: Someone is being criticized
Mating: Situation includes sexual stimuli
Positivity: Situation is potentially enjoyable
Negativity: Situation is potentially anxiety-inducing
Deception: It is possible to deceive someone
Sociality: Close personal relationships are present

Question 24

Key findings of Experience Sampling Study that compared traits (Big Five) and situations (DIAMONDS) as predictors of behaviours and affects

Answer 24

State expressions (behavior/experience) vary widely between and within participants
Traits and situations were both predictors of behaviour and experience (Effect sizes very similar)
Personality traits also predicted situational experience (Situation selection/perception?)

Question 25

Summary of personality and social psychology come to full circle

Answer 25

B = f(P*E) (Lewin, 1936)
Situationism (Mischel, 1968)
Doubt and disagreement over ‘consistency’ (1970s/80s)
“Strong situations” (Mischel, 1977)
Non-competitive interactionism and person-situation transactions (today)