What Is the Person-Situation Debate

Essay

What is the person-situation debate?
a. The person-situation debate refers to the question of what contributes to the accurate prediction of a person's behaviour, the situation, or personality.
b. It was launched by Walter Mischel in his book Personality and Assessment (1968).
c. During that time, it was believed that the more an individual possessed a certain trait, the more likely that person was to behave in a manner consistent with the trait in any situation
d. Based on his review of the literature, Mischel questioned whether there was a direct connection between personality traits and actual behaviour. Specifically, he suggested that the type of situation may account for as much (if not more) of the variability in a person's behaviour.