Mischel’s Situational Personality
description
Transcript of Mischel’s Situational Personality
Mischel’s Situational Personality
Bryan Hall
Kristi Simmons
Overview Mini-Bio Personality Aggregation Mischel’s Position on Personality Personality vs. Situation Debate
Personality Traits determine how individuals react in
everyday occurrences Personality assumes people are
characterized by distinctive qualities that are invariant across situations and time Research is counter to this claim
Aggregation Acknowledge the importance of
situations Aggregate the individual’s behavior over
many different situations to give a “true score”
Aggregation Example
Walter Mischel Biography Born 1930 Vienna, Austria Raised in Brooklyn, New York Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Ohio State
in 1956 Taught at
University of Colorado 1956-1958 Harvard University 1958-1962 Stanford University 1962-1983 Columbia University 1983-Present
Another Viewpoint Mischel argues
Traits lack internal consistency and cross-situational generality
Low agreement in trait structure of individuals described by raters and other methods
Low correlations between traits and behaviors
Behaviors are predicted better by other methods
Situational Personality Mischel proposes a cognitive-affective
system theory of personality Situational Personality: Situation
Determines Behavior
If…Then… People are characterized by stable
individual differences in their overall behavior, but also by distinctive and stable patterns of situation-behavior relations For example, Amy does X when A occurs,
but Y when B occurs
How Behavior Varies Across Situations
Summer Camp Examined children’s interactions over
the summer Two main features examined:
Valence (positive or negative) Type of person involved in interaction
(adult counselor or child peer)
Situation-Behavior Profiles for Verbal Aggression for Two Children at Two Different Time Samples
Results Frequencies of behavior were standardized so that
any remaining variance would be attributable to the individual’s distinctive personal qualities
Found meaningful stable situation-behavior profiles Indicates there are characteristics intraindividual
patterns in how individuals relate to different psychological conditions and that these patterns form a behavioral signature that reflects personality coherence
Enduring Characteristics Encodings or construal (of self, others,
situations, etc.) Expectancies and beliefs (about outcomes
and one’s own efficacy) Competencies (for the construction and
generation of social behavior) Subjective values Self-regulatory plans and strategies in the
pursuit of goals
Personality vs. Situation Debate Personality Determines Behavior
OR
Situation Determines Behavior
Situationist View Small Correlation Between Personality
and Behavior (~.30) Richard Nisbett (1980): Revised
Personality-behavior Correlation (~.40) Still Small
Personality Arguments Small Personality-behavior correlations
≠ Situational Variables Actual Relationship Between
Personality and Behavior Higher Than .40
.40 Correlation Not Small Does Not Predict Specific Time in
Specific Situation
Personality Arguments Choosing Situations Reflects
Personality Personality Traits Useful Psychological
Tools Improvements in Personality Research
Personality View Emotional Personality Traits Affect Behavior Expressions of Behaviors Change Example: Display Different Behaviors in
Different Situations Personality: Enduring Genotypes Expressed in
Diverse Phenotypes Situationist: Behavior Dependent on Situation
Example Aggression (Personality Variable),
Social Approval (Personality Variable), and Home vs Party (Situational Variable)
Example
High Aggression
High Social Approval
Low Aggression
High Social Approval
High Aggression
Low Social Approval
Low Aggression
Low Social Approval
Alker (1972): Interactionism Interactionist Perspective: Traits and
Situations Interact to Influence Behavior Behavior = personality x interpretation of
situation Individual Differences in Personality-
Situation Relationship Kenrid et al. (1990): Trait Appears Only
in Necessary Situation
Alternative View Bem (1972): Trait Like vs. Situational
People
Are Traits Consistent Across Cultures? Big 5 Found in Other Cultures Culture Specific Traits Exist Expression of Traits Influenced By:
Situation Culture
Matthews, G., Deary, I., & Whiteman, M. (2003). Personality Traits. 58.
Matthews, G., Deary, I., & Whiteman, M. (2003). Personality Traits. 58.