The role of situational demands and cognitive competencies in behavior organization and personality coherence.
Consistency in the natural organization of aggressive and prosocial (constructive) behavior, assessed repeatedly in vivo over a summer in a residential camp for children, was predicted from situational and personal characteristics. Similarity of situations in the types of competencies they demand in part predicted cross-situational consistency in individual differences in aggressive behaviors (Study 1). Study 2 examined the effect of cognitive competence on the discriminative patterning of behavior variation across situations. More cognitively competent Ss showed such discriminative patterning, which was reflected in greater Person X Situation interaction variance in their prosocial behavior.
Shoda
Y
Y
Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027.
Mischel
W
W
Wright
J C
JC
D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D002165:Camping; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009043:Motor Activity; D010551:Personality; D005082:Physical Exertion; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012112:Residential Facilities; D012919:Social Behavior