IB Psychology

Paper 1
Sociocultural level of analysis
2016-01-13

SAQ

Situational and
dispositional factors
(5)
Learning outcome:
Describe the role of
situational and dispositional factors
in explaining behavior.
Course Companion: 103-104
Past exam questions:
SAQ: Describe the role of situational and dispositional factors in explaining behavior. M13
TZ1
Videos:
Youtube: Psychology 13 Power of the situation (Watch from 11 min)
Youtube: The Stanford Prison Experiment
Markscheme:
The command term describe requires candidates to give a detailed account of how
situational and dispositional factors may explain human behaviour. Answers may clarify that dispositional
factors include personality, biological factors and genetics and situational factors are external factors.
Candidates may highlight that we seem to perceive the actions of others as stemming primarily from internal
dispositions, while viewing our own as largely a response to environmental factors. Candidates may also
address the fact that attributional judgment may vary across cultures. Candidates may explain attribution
theory or any other relevant research to help describe the situational and dispositional factors. This approach
is appropriate as long as the focus of the answer is on the description of the factors. It would also be
appropriate to refer to studies such as Milgram or Zimbardo in looking at the power of the situation in
determining behaviour. In such responses, however, candidates should show knowledge and understanding
of the role of dispositional factors using other appropriate research if necessary.
If a candidate describes a relevant study with no link made to dispositional and situational factors, apply the
markbands up to a maximum of [3 marks].
If a candidate describes only situational factors or only dispositional factors, apply the markbands up to a
maximum of [4 marks].

WHAT DOES THE LEARNING OUTCOME MEAN?

This question can only be asked as an SAQ. The command term could be distinguish between, describe,
explain, define, outline or state. One study should be used to illustrate, but no evaluation and critical thinking
is needed. Just description. Make sure you can explain in detail what dispositional and situational factors are
and that you can explicitly link the study to the factors. Otherwise you will only get a maximum of 3
marks.
There are two ways of answering the question (This handout uses the first approach):
1. Write about to what extent disposition and situation affect poeples behavior or you can use the
information from attribution theory and the attribution errors (Soc 6) and write about. You can use Asch,
Crutchfield, Milgram, Zimbardo to show the power of situational factors in behaviors such as conformity,
obedience, etc. For example, the factors influencing conformity (Soc 12) are situational factors that affect
conformity, an authority is the situational factor affecting obedience in Milgrams study, and the role played
by the participants in Zimbardos study is a situational factor that affected behaviors of the guards and
prisoners.
2. Write about situational and dispositional factors in explaining causes of behavior. Use the information from
the handout on learning outcome 6 (Soc 6).

SUMMARY
Dispositional factors are internal factors such as personality, biological factors,
genes, intelligence, mood, etc. Situational factors are external factors such as
rewards and punishments, social pressure from others, norms in society, other peoples
behaviors, luck, etc.
Both situational and dispositional factors influence behavior. There has been a
debate among psychologists about which of these two factors influences behavior the
most.
A lot of research in social psychology shows that our behavior is often more influenced
by the situation we are in, than our disposition. Before these famous first studies
showing the importance of the situation were conducted, scientists tended to believe that
disposition was the most important in determining behavior. However, today, scientists
tend to have an interactionist approach. We do have different personalities/
dispositions, but our behavior is also very much influenced by the situation we are
in. Most research in social psychology (such as Milgrams obedience study or Aschs
conformity research and Zimbardos prison experiment) supports this view. Most research
prior to these studies was concentrated on finding dispositional factors that influence
behaviors.

Asch, 1951 showed the power of situational factors. People who are put in a group
(=the situational factor) tend to go along with the group and give the wrong answer to a
very simple visual task comparing lengths of lines, regardless of personality
(=dispositional factor). 75% of the participants conformed to the group by giving the
wrong answer, on at least one trial even though almost everyone gave the right answer
when alone. However, 25% of the participants never conformed, which could possibly be
explained by personality (=dispositional factors). He also investigated the influence of
other situational factors such as group size, difficulty of task and having an ally.

Crutchfield, 1954, investigated dispositional factors such as IQ, ego strength and
leadership ability, that could affect conformity levels and showed that people with high IQ
tend to conform less. This is ONE dispositional factor that affects the behavior conformity.

Dispositional factors are internal, personal often unchanging,

stable factors such as

personality (kindness, aggressiveness, etc.)

genes
other biological factors
intelligence levels
attitudes
mood
ability
values
character

Examples: (These are the explicit sentences linking Asch to this particular question)
A dispositional explanation for the behavior of Aschs participants (see Soc handout 11,
12 on Conformity) is that, while most conformed at least once, 25 % of the participants
actually never conformed (not in one single trial out of the 12 trials when the group gave
an obviously wrong answer), which could probably be explained by their disposition. We
cannot say from Aschs research what it is about their disposition that makes them not
conform (personality, mood, ability, attitude, etc.).
Crutchfields research (see handout Soc 11, 12 on Conformity) shows which types of
dispositions conform less (those with ego strength, with higher IQ, with leadership abilities,
those low in authoritarianism, etc.). Remember that Crutchfields participants also showed
high levels of conformity, which means that situational factors seemed to influence more
than disposition, but he tested which dispositional factors influenced.

Situational factors are external factors that are different in different situations,
such as
the environment
the role someone plays (in Zimbardos prison study)
norms in society
other peoples behavior (giving the wrong answer in Aschs tudy)
chance
luck
law constraints

Examples: (These are the explicit sentences linking Asch to this particular question)
A situational explanation for the behavior of Aschs participants is that people tend to
conform because they are in a group (Remember that hardly anyone said the wrong
answer when they were alone, in the control condition, but when put in a group they gave
the wrong answers in 32 % of the trials and 75 % of the participants gave the wrong
answer on at least one of the 12 critical trials.
A situational explanation for the behavior of prison guards in Zimbardos prison study
would be that the prison environment and the roles they were playing (guards or
prisoners) made them aggressive or psychologically instable/depressed. A dispositional
explanation for the behavior of prison guards in Zimbardos prison study would be that
certain types of people are drawn to the job of prison guards, as they are aggressive by
nature.

STUDIES TO ILLUSTRATE THE ROLE OF SITUATIONAL

AND DISPOSITIONAL FACTORS
You only need one study in an SAQ, and I would suggest that you use Asch or Crutchfield, since
he also investigated conformity using an Asch-like task showing the same results, but unlike Asch
he actually investigated which dispositional factors are linked to conformity. Make sure you
understand that, in the original Asch experiment, the situational factor is being in a group. So
regardless of peoples dispositions, the majority tends to conform.

1. Aschs conformity research This experiment shows that people tend to change

their behavior when they are in a group, the group being the situation they are in. When
participants were alone, hardly anyone said the wrong answer. When they were put in a
group (situational factor), 75 % conformed at least once and they conformed on 32 % of
the 12 trials when the confederates said the wrong answer. On the other hand, some never
conformed, which means that personality (a dispositional factor) to some extent can
explain why some never conformed (but Asch did not investigate which dispositional
factors influenced them.). Asch also investigated the influence of other situational factors
on conformity, such as unanimity of the group, ambiguity of the task, etc. See handouts 11
and 12.

2. Crutchfields conformity research Crutchfields research shows the role of

situational factors in his Asch-like experiments. They were put in imaginary groups in
cubicles and given many different kinds of tasks where one of the tasks was to judge the
lengths of lines. They thought they were doing the task with others, but they were alone in
cubicles. He also used a number of other types of tasks (comparing the area or a circle and
a star, asking participant if they think they would make good leaders, etc.). In those
experiments, very many conformed (Conformity levels were 30 % or higher for the different
tasks), showing the large influence of the situational factor being in a group. But since he
also tested their disposition using personality and IQ tests, his correlations showed
the role of disposition (personality, individual factors), since some types of
personalities conformed more than others (see handouts 11 and 12 on conformity).

Examples from everyday life. Dont use them in the exams. This is for you to understand
this better. Remember that this question asks about the actual causes of behavior. The
question on attribution asks about how people tend to explain their own or other peoples
behaviors, regardless of whether that was the cause of their behavior or not. According to
the markscheme provided by the IB, it would be ok to use the other approach as well.
Behavior

Situational factors
(The person is not in control
of his/her behavior)
Your boyfriend
Traffic stop
/girlfriend is late
Missed the train
for a date with you An accident
You failed a test

Bad teacher
Difficult test
Too hot/cold classroom
Could not study because

Dispositional factors
(The person is personally in control
of his/her behavior)
Forgetful
Insensitive
Always late
Didnt leave enough time to get
there
Lazy
Stupid
Never studies for tests
Not in the mood

Sample answer
Soc 5 Sitational and dispositional facotors in behavior
SAQ
Describe the role of situational and dispositional factors in explaining behavior.
Both situational and dispositional factors are important in explaining behavior, which can be
illustrated using Aschs conformity experiment.
Situational factors are external factors that are different in different situations, such as the
environment a person is in, the role someone plays, norms in society, other peoples behavior,
luck, chance, law constraints. One could say that people are only consistent (=behave the same
way) in the same situations, but their behavior varies from one situation to another and we learn
from other people (through socialization) what is appropriate behavior in a given situation.
Dispostional factors are internal, personal, often unchanging and stable factors such as
personality (for example kindness, aggressiveness, intelligence), our genes, other biological
factors, attitudes, mood, ability, values, character.
There has been a debate among psychologists about which of these two factors influences
behavior the most. Traditionally scientists have had a tendency to believe that disposition was the
most important in determining behavior and therefore a lot of research was conducted on
personality traits that influence behavior. On the other hand, a lot of research in social psychology,
such as Aschs, Milgrams and Zimbardos, shows the importance of situational factors. However,
today, scientists tend to have an interactionist approach. We do have different personalities/
dispositions which influence the way we behave, but our behavior is also influenced by the
situation we are in.
One example of a study in social psychology, which shows that the situation is often more
important in explaining behavior than disposition is Aschs (1955) conformity laboratory
experiment.
The aim was to investigate to what extent people conform to an obviously wrong answer when
they are put in a group.
The participants were asked to judge the lengths of lines and state which of three so called
comparison lines is the same length as a single line, referred to as the standard line. Most
participants in the control condition (when they were alone) stated the correct line, which means
that the task was easy, but in the experimental condition participants were asked to answer this
question last in a group with 7 confederates. The participants were exposed to 18 trials and the
confederates had agreed to give an incorrect answer in 12. The independent variable was being in
a group or alone and the dependent was conformity operationalized as the number of trials in
which the participants went along with an incorrect answer.
Results showed that the participants gave the obviously incorrect answer and conformed with the
group in 32% of the trials. 75% of the participants conformed on at least one trial while 25% never
conformed.
This indicates that being put in a group (which is a situational factor) makes participants behave
differently regardless of disposition. However, since 25% never conformed, this number might be
explained by dispositional factors, even though Asch did not investigate these factors.
This was investigated by Crutchfield who conducted similar experiments and correlated conformity
levels with the participants IQ and results on personality tests. This research showed that the
following dispositional factors tend to make people conform less: high intelligence, ego strength
and having low scores on authoritarianism.