Power of Situations
Summary of "The Power of Situations"
The authors of "The Power of Situations" are Lee Ross and Richard E. Nisbett. Ross is a psychology professor at Stanford University and Nisbett is a psychology professor at the University of Michigan. In the article, Ross and Nisbett discuss the irony and complexity of Social Psychology on today's society.
In the beginning, the article starts off by stating that undergraduate students typically enjoy their first social psychology class. This is believed to be because they are still fascinated by human behavior. Graduate students who are in their fourth or fifth year of study think differently about social psychology. They tend to become so immersed in the problems of human behavior that the behavior of the people around them becomes challenging. Ross and Nisbett also state that sometimes graduate students know so much about human behavior they often times find themselves questioning their own behavior.
In an example scenario, the subject John is presented with a decision to either walk away from or offer help to a questionable man. Ross and Nisbett state that the majority of people would want to know more about John's behavior as a person before they would speak on his actions. However, you end up reading that this information is actually irrelevant to making any decisions on what John's behavior will be, while details of the situation are extremely useful.
Furthermore, it is noted that an ordinary person, would generally admit that the situational information regarding John and the man in the doorway is important. They wouldn't however, admit to any other reasons such as research done that shows different factors that influence bystander interaction.
A study was conducted by J. M. Darly and C. D. Bateson that placed people in the same situation as the subject John. The study highlighted students of a religious seminary who were on their way to practice their sermons. Darly and Bateson revealed that if
The authors of "The Power of Situations" are Lee Ross and Richard E. Nisbett. Ross is a psychology professor at Stanford University and Nisbett is a psychology professor at the University of Michigan. In the article, Ross and Nisbett discuss the irony and complexity of Social Psychology on today's society.
In the beginning, the article starts off by stating that undergraduate students typically enjoy their first social psychology class. This is believed to be because they are still fascinated by human behavior. Graduate students who are in their fourth or fifth year of study think differently about social psychology. They tend to become so immersed in the problems of human behavior that the behavior of the people around them becomes challenging. Ross and Nisbett also state that sometimes graduate students know so much about human behavior they often times find themselves questioning their own behavior.
In an example scenario, the subject John is presented with a decision to either walk away from or offer help to a questionable man. Ross and Nisbett state that the majority of people would want to know more about John's behavior as a person before they would speak on his actions. However, you end up reading that this information is actually irrelevant to making any decisions on what John's behavior will be, while details of the situation are extremely useful.
Furthermore, it is noted that an ordinary person, would generally admit that the situational information regarding John and the man in the doorway is important. They wouldn't however, admit to any other reasons such as research done that shows different factors that influence bystander interaction.
A study was conducted by J. M. Darly and C. D. Bateson that placed people in the same situation as the subject John. The study highlighted students of a religious seminary who were on their way to practice their sermons. Darly and Bateson revealed that if