Wright J C, Mischel W
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1987 Dec;53(6):1159-77. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.53.6.1159.
A conditional approach to dispositions is developed in which dispositional constructs are viewed as clusters of if-then propositions. These propositions summarize contingencies between categories of conditions and categories of behavior rather than generalized response tendencies. A fundamental unit for investigating dispositions is therefore the conditional frequency of acts that are central to a given behavior category in circumscribed situations, not the overall frequency of behaviors. In an empirical application of the model, we examine how people's dispositional judgments are linked to extensive observations of targets' behavior in a range of natural social situations. We identify categories of these social situations in which targets' behavior may be best predicted from observers' dispositional judgements, focusing on the domains of aggression and withdrawal. One such category consists of subjectively demanding or stressful situations that tax people's performance competencies. As expected, children judged to be aggressive or withdrawn were variable across situations in dispositionally relevant behaviors, but they diverged into relatively predictable aggressive and withdrawn actions in situations that required the social, self-regulatory, and cognitive competencies they lacked. Implications of the conditional approach for personality assessment and person perception research are considered.
本文提出了一种关于性情倾向的条件性方法，其中性情倾向结构被视为由“如果……那么……”命题组成的集合。这些命题总结了条件类别与行为类别之间的偶发事件，而非一般性的反应倾向。因此，用于研究性情倾向的基本单位是特定情境中对于给定行为类别至关重要的行为的条件频率，而非行为的总体频率。在该模型的实证应用中，我们考察了人们的性情倾向判断如何与在一系列自然社会情境中对目标行为的广泛观察相联系。我们确定了这些社会情境的类别，在其中可以根据观察者的性情倾向判断对目标行为进行最佳预测，重点关注攻击和退缩领域。其中一类情境包括主观上要求高或有压力的情况，这些情况会考验人们的表现能力。正如预期的那样，被判定具有攻击性或退缩性的儿童在与性情倾向相关的行为上在不同情境中表现各异，但在需要他们所缺乏的社交、自我调节和认知能力的情境中，他们会表现出相对可预测的攻击和退缩行为。我们还考虑了条件性方法对人格评估和人物感知研究的影响。
