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Moving Personality Beyond the Person-Situation Debate
The Challenge and the Opportunity of Within-Person Variability
William Fleeson 1
  1 Wake Forest University
 Address correspondence to William Fleeson, Department of Psychology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109; e-mail: fleesonw@wfu.edu
Copyright Copyright © 2004 American Psychological Society
KEYWORDS
intraindividual variability • personality • person-situation debate • interactionism • behavior

Abstract—

AbstractThe Challenge Of Within-Person Variability And The Person-Situation DebateObtaining Distributions Of BehaviorEvidence For The Situation Position: People Act Very Differently On Different OccasionsEvidence For The Person Position: People Act Very Similarly From One Week To AnotherReferences

Abstract—The person-situation debate is coming to an end because both sides of the debate have turned out to be right. With respect to momentary behaviors, the situation side is right: Traits do not predict, describe, or influence behavior very strongly; the typical individual's behavior is highly variable; and a process approach is needed to explain that variability. With respect to trends (e.g., a person's typical way of acting), however, the person side of the debate is right: Traits predict and describe behavior very well over long stretches of time, behavior is highly stable, and a trait approach is needed to explain differences between people. Thus, proponents of both sides are right and should continue to conduct fruitful research, and both viewpoints are necessary for a full understanding of personality. The next exciting steps in personality psychology will include integrating these two approaches in the same research paradigm.

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)
10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00280.x About DOI

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