Situational and Dispositional Factors 4.3 Describe the role of situational and dispositional factors in explaining behavior

Psychologist differ in how important each factors is Tim’s Story… Answer The type of person they are The type of situation Causes of behavior Dispositional factors (type of person) Situational factors (type of situation) Psychologist differ in how important each factors is

Dispositional Factors Attributes behavior to a person’s internal characteristics Refers to a person’s Beliefs Attitudes Personality

Situational Factors Attribute behavior to external factors Examples Immediate rewards or punishments Social pressure Social setting

Which one attributes more to our behavior? Personality researchers Dispositional factors Social psychologists Situational factors Take a personality test www.pearsonhotlinks.com ISBN 978 0 435 032883 Chapter 4, Weblink 4.1

Attribution Theory Heider, 1958 Assumption: people are naïve scientists Look for causes and reasons behind other people’s behavior Why? Because there are reasons behind our own behavior We are “intuitive psychologists” Construct causal theories Understand, predict and control the environment

Why do people do it…? Need causal explanations Makes the world predictable Cultures have constructed causal explanations Myths, religions Tendency to see motives and dispositions may be automatic Apply it where it doesn’t apply Example Computer games, electronics, witchcraft, fate

Empirical Research Simmel, 1944 Experiment Participants viewed moving, geometric shapes Asked to describe them Results: described figures as if the figures had intentions to act in the way they did Implications: dispositional attribution Attributing behavior to an object

Empirical Research Evans-Pritchard, 1976 Case study: cultural Participants: Azande people (central Africa) Procedure Natural event: granary doorway collapsed Participants explained why Results: People said it was witchcraft and fate Even when shown evidence of termites Implications: the use of situational attribution is culturally created

Additional theories/research that support attribution theory Epstein, 1983 Asch, 1951/1956 Milgram, 1974 Take notes Milgram (106-107) Bandura’s Social Learning Theory and Bobo Doll research

Activity Connect Milgram’s research to attribution theory Notes 106-107

Personality and Behavior Personality is defined in terms of traits (Trait Theorists) i.e. Five Factor Model Neuroticism Extraversion Openness to experience Agreeableness Conscientiousness Personality traits are… Cross-situational Stable **Dispositional Factors**

Is behavior really consistent and stable? Mischel disagrees Less evidence of consistency Only a moderate correlation between conscientiousness in different situations Causes of behavior should look at the situation Hartsshorne and May, 1928 Dishonest students in one school were not always dishonest in another school

Trait Theorist’s Reponses We never said that it was specific behaviors at specific times Classes of behavior Range of different situations General tendency Don’t compare days, compare weeks

Research to support tendencies Roberts and Del Vecchio, 2000 Correlational & Longitudinal Study: Surveys Conclusion High correlation between personality measures taken 7 years apart Evidence supports that significant personality change beyond early adulthood is rare.

Your Test Results Go through all factors and highlight your results Low or high? Write whether you or agree or disagree with each factor Take a personality test www.pearsonhotlinks.com ISBN 978 0 435 032883 Chapter 4, Weblink 4.1