The Person and the Situation

In this groundbreaking synthesis of the central themes of social psychology and personality theory, Lee Ross and Richard E. Nisbett attempt to reconcile common sense and common experience with the empirical lessons and challenges that lie at the core of social psychology. The Person and the Situation seeks to provide an overview of social psychology’s primary scientific and intellectual contributions, one that serves to challenge, reform, and expand common sense. Ross and Nisbett identify three contributions of social psychology that have significantly influenced the study of the individual and society: the power and subtlety of situational influences on behavior; the need to recognize the subjective nature of situational influence; and the utility of regarding both individual psyches and social groups as "tension systems." The authors show how these themes inform the study of any topic having to do with social behavior. Their highly original and penetrating analysis of how we can better understand the interaction of people and their life situations leads to new insights on how to design effective interventions that can work to enhance individual and societal functioning.