The Person and the Situation: Perspectives of Social Psychology

What's profound is the Big Idea. Then it get's a bit o much like a textbook for my tastes.

I was assigned a couple of chapters as reading for my seminar class and I figured I'd buy the book as well to add to my library. Ross and Nisbett do a great job explaining the background of social psychology research. I've found myself going back to it several times already to check concepts and can definitely see myself doing this over my academic career. Buy if you are going into psychology, any human factors work, or if you are just interested in the social world and human behaviour.

Good historical overview but Chapters 4&5 makes very heavy weather of the point that only mean cross-situational responses can be predicted from personality traits because individual responses are too variable.

This book completely changed how I look at how our lives turn out. I came away very suspicious of the whole idea of character. It seems that the situations we find ourselves in has much more to do with how we act. I got a new perspective on all the advantages I had growing up in a safe, middle-class neighborhood with a good family life.

Malcolm Gladwell recommended The Person and the Situation in a recent interview in the New York Times so I ordered it. It is a research based book so you have to enjoy reading about research in the field of human behavior. What is important is that the book has the potential to change how you view the way people act in certain situations. The book's thesis is that humans tend to describe behavior in terms of personality traits while the research clearly shows that the situation is a more accurate explanation for the behavior.

While I am currently only half way through this book I feel it could be about half it's size. The author continues to use large words, then proceeds to explain his large words then summarise (using slightly smaller large words). Meaning that almost half the book is spent trying to simplify to "the layperson" what would normally be a straightforward and intriguing book.Imagine a university student trying to fill their 2000 word quota on an essay. The laborious process of adding unnecessary words and lengthening sentences seems all too familiar reading through the overkill of linguistics, that masks the small amount of fascinating observations and experiments.Had the author presented his findings in a more discernable (not making the reader require a thesaurus to understand basic sentences) and less pious manner this book's rating would be at least a 4.

Very good source. Exactly as described.

The Person and the Situation, I searched years for this book and even contacted the author via email. He responded that it would be converted to digital format if there were enough request. There were so many requests for it they finally issued it in digital format. If you have any interest in Social Psychology this is a must read! It was worth the effort tracking it down and waiting for.

Likes:- This book is fascinating for those who enjoy social psychology!- This book is understandable and cohesive, not to mention highly informative.- This book is an excellent introduction to the Personality vs Situation debate and offers readers a good understanding of situationist philosophy.Some potential problems:- This book is understandable to the average reader, but, is fairly technical, as one might expect.- This book is probably biased toward situationism.

opens the door to a new world of knowledge...how people behave...

Always wanted to read the first version, this helps to put a perspective on new thoughts and findings - well written, but not for the faint-hearted!

I chose this based on the sample pages made available, but the rest of the book is too academic. It wasn't for me.

Leitura indicada a todos que se interessam por comportamento. Fundamental para relacionamentos, convivência e gestão de equipes. Excepcional e instigante!