Personality research: components of variance attributable to the person and the situation.

Studies involving personality and situational variables were surveyed. Studies permitting determination of main effects and interactions involving these variables have increased since 1950. In one comparison, situational main effects were significant in 65.5% of the cases, whereas the figure was 31% for individual difference variables and 59.9% for interactions. In another comparison, 35% of situational main effects accounted for more than 10% of the variance, compared with 29% for personality indexes; 19% of the situational variable effects accounted for more than 20% of the variance, compared with 14% of the personality main effects. Low percentages of variance were accounted for by all variables investigated: situational, personality, demographic, and interactions among these variables.     

Social Comparison and Bystander Intervention in Emergencies

In a 2 × 2 experimental design, male subjects were exposed to a "lady in distress" in the presence of a confederate who was either similar or dissimilar to the subject and who reacted to the situation with either passive unconcern or with apparent alarm. Consistent with a social comparison interpretation, the confederate's reactions markedly influenced whether subjects intervened. While degree of similarity was unrelated to probability of occurrence of an intervention response, it exerted a strong effect on intervention response latency. It is proposed that social comparison processes not only may influence an observer's interpretation of a situation, but may also contribute to situational ambiguity and affect the observer's degree of confidence in the validity of his interpretation of the situation. Any of these factors may, in turn, determine whether and how quickly an intervention response occurs.