Post by mgm on Nov 17, 2017 22:35:46 GMT
One of the issues that arises when trying to create a personality theory is the conflict between the idea of personality being a stable and consistent pattern of behaviour within an individual that endures through time and varying situations on one hand, with the proven knowledge that situational context can greatly influence an individuals behaviour on the other hand (as demonstrated by Milgram in his study on obedience). Its undeniable that in any given situation both of these factors play a role in determining a persons thoughts, actions and behaviour; for example, I might have a tendency to be generally withdrawn in most social situations, but the degree to which I am will no doubt at least be partly determined by certain factors of the situation - such as the number of people at the event, the degree of formality of the gathering, the extent to which I am familiar with the other attendees, etc. So the problem lies in establishing a theory that assigns the correct importance to each of these opposite poles of influence on the personality of the individual.