People and situations mutually influence each other rather than situations acting one-way on people
Evidence
Another problem with conceptualizing a situation as a static entity that inde pendently affects behavior is that such an analysis ignores the fact that people do not only react to situations; they also influence and even create them (Snyder & Ickes, 1985). For example, one might attribute the dominant be havior of a person within a group to the submissiveness of his or her interac tion partners, but that simple situational attribution would not take into account the possibility that the individual’s dominant personality actually elic ited the submissive behavior in the other people. … Similarly, although some people might seem to have low self-esteem because they are constantly being put down by others, it is also the case that some of them play a role in creat ing such a social environment by subtly seeking and eliciting feedback to con firm their already poor self-images (Swann, 1990). — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 354
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: People over-attribute others’ behavior to personality and underweight situational constraints — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 356; People alternate between egalitarian and prejudiced stances depending on what a situation makes salient; People explain actions via inner dispositions rather than situational dynamics — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 426 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Social structure and individual agency are mutually constitutive, not opposed
#corroborates(0.92) - People alternate between egalitarian and prejudiced stances depending on what a situation makes salient
#exemplifies(0.85) - People over-attribute behavior to character rather than situational pressures.
#contradicts(0.85) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 152 - People explain actions via inner dispositions rather than situational dynamics
#contradicts(0.82) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 426