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Personality and individual differences

Revisiting person–situation interactionism

Nature Reviews Psychology volume 2, page 6 (2023)Cite this article

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The idea that the effects of personality depend on the situation and vice versa (person–situation interactionism) is treated as a truism. However, limited progress has been made in delineating exactly how personality and situational factors synergistically shape behaviours. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie person–situation interactionism can improve personal relationships (understanding why somebody acts in certain ways in certain situations) and person–organization fit (understanding how work-related behaviours arise from situation–trait interactions).

Previous work has distinguished between two types of situational influence: situational strength (environmental cues regarding the desirability of potential behaviours) and situational affordances (contextual features that enable the expression of specific traits). According to the situational strength hypothesis, strong situations restrict variance in behaviours across people and therefore mute the effects of personality traits. According to trait activation theory, situational affordances make specific personality traits relevant, thereby allowing expression of those situationally relevant traits.

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References

Original article

  • Judge, T. A. & Zapata, C. P. The person–situation debate revisited: effect of situation strength and trait activation on the validity of the Big Five personality traits in predicting job performance. Acad. Manag. J. 58, 1149–1170 (2015)

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Related articles

  • De Vries, R. E. et al. Evolution, situational affordances, and the HEXACO model of personality. Evol. Hum. Behav. 37, 407–421 (2016);

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  • Tett, R. P. et al. Trait activation theory: a review of the literature and applications to five lines of personality dynamics research. Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav. 8, 199–233 (2021)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Ranran Li

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  1. Ranran Li
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Correspondence to Ranran Li.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Li, R. Revisiting person–situation interactionism. Nat Rev Psychol 2, 6 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-022-00139-8

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