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.