Situational Strength Theory

Abstract

<p>The notion that individual differences (e.g., personality traits) predict behavior and relevant outcomes in “weak” situations (i.e., when people are left to their own devices to determine what to do) but not in “strong” situations (i.e., when situations provide people with unmistakable cues about what to do) is often treated as a truism among psychologists (Cooper &amp; Withey, 2009). Although many studies support this general idea, its intuitive appeal may have dissuaded researchers from treating situational strength as a meaningful construct in its own right. This chapter attempts to remedy this state of affairs by (a) proposing a formalized theory of situational strength that outlines this construct’s functional mechanisms, (b) demonstrating how this knowledge can be used to develop testable hypotheses (e.g., pertaining to the criterion-oriented validity of individual differences), and (c) exploring several theoretical and practical implications of this theory for both science and practice.</p>

Personality in a naturally occurring strong situation: Unique effects of HEXACO traits on COVID-19 mitigation

“…The evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic provides a natural laboratory to study interactions between persons, situations, and behaviors. Being characterized by clear and consistent extra-individual circumstances that posed constraints to behavior with important consequences for transgressors, the lockdown offered an uncommon example of a strong situation occurring on a global-scale ( Meyer et al, 2020 ). Even if unable to manipulate the strength of the situation ( Cooper & Withey, 2009 ), our study capitalized on this naturally-occurring event with incomparable ecological validity.…”

“…They uniformly came from media, government, and scientific agencies, and a violation of those indications could have led to legal and health-related consequences. Characteristics of clarity and consistency of the information, presence of constraints, and specific consequences in case of inconsistent behavior ( Meyer et al, 2020 ) have been described as key attributes of the so-called “strong situations”. We argue that the lockdown constituted a prototypical example of a strong situation.…”

“…We argue that the lockdown constituted a prototypical example of a strong situation. In particular, a situation is strong when it is characterized by the ability to induce uniform expectancies and behaviors, ultimately reducing the behavioral expression of individual differences such as personality traits and motives ( Meyer et al, 2020 ). Although strong situations have been investigated through experimental paradigms ( Cooper & Withey, 2009 ), they are not easy to observe systematically in ecological contexts among a broad population.…”

“…The main aim of this study was to investigate the predictive value of personality over behaviors relevant to COVID-19 mitigation during the first lockdown in Italy, which offered an example of a strong situation that arguably constitutes a worst-case scenario for predictions based on personality and individual differences in general ( Meyer et al, 2020 ). In particular, we examined the extent to which personality could improve the prediction of behaviors after controlling for more direct predictors (e.g., demographic variables, knowledge of COVID-19) and personal goals related to COVID-19.…”

The benefits of career adaptability on African international students’ perception of social support and quality of life in China during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…In contrast to these concepts, the moderated mediation model in the current study suggests that in the COVID-19 pandemic context, activating and triggering adaptability resources appears to be more difficult for international students in the context of greater COVID-19 impact. According to situational strength theory, personality characteristic (e.g., traits and resources) predicts individual behavior and relevant outcomes in “weak” situations, but in “strong” situations, situational characteristic forces individuals to behave in a particular way and the influence of personality characteristic is diminished ( Meyer et al, 2020 ). Compared to daily work-related life events (a weak situation), the COVID-19 pandemic is less controllable and more unpredictable for individuals (a strong situation), which leads international students to study in a quite unstable and stressful environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”