Putting Lewin’s Equation to the Test: Assessing the Person-Situation Interaction with the B5PS

Abstract

Lewin hypothesized in 1936 that behavior is a result of the person’s personality and the environment. This basic distinction of two factors influencing behavior led to the person- situation debate. The current study briefly reviews the debate with its major arguments and concepts, putting a special focus on the newly developed concept of situation perception as a substitute for the Lewinian environment. A questionnaire is used to measure the Big Five personality dimensions as well as five dimensions of situation perception. Applying a linear multilevel model, the effects of the specific and the general situation perception and the personality on hypothetical behavior are tested. Depending on the personality and situation perception dimensions examined, it was found that the specific as well as the general situation perception have an effect on human behavior. Additional findings and promising ideas for further research are presented and discussed.

Discovering the Second Side of the Coin

“…Research on states has shown that the interaction between person and situation contributes substantially to the variance of trait assessments (e.g., Deinzer et al, 1995; Ziegler, Ehrlenspiel, & Brand, 2009). Thus, sophisticated measurement approaches as well as sophisticated modeling approaches are required to overcome this obstacle (Horstmann, 2015).…”