fei75766_ch18_569-609.indd 594  02/24/20 10:50 AM
Part VI    Learning-Cognitive Theories594
intoaccount boththelonghistory ofobserved variability inbehavior andtheintuitive 
conviction ofbothpsychologists andlaypeople thatpersonality isrelatively stable. 
Thefrequently observed variability inbehavior issimply anessential partofaunify -
ingstability ofpersonality.
Thistheory doesnotsuggest thatbehaviors areanoutgrowth ofstable, global 
personality traits. Ifbehaviors werearesult ofglobal traits, thenthere would belittle
individual variation inbehavior. Inother words, Mark would react inmuch thesame 
manner toprovocation, regardless ofthespecific situation. However, Mark’s long-
standing pattern ofvariability attests totheinadequacy ofboththesituation theory 
andthetraittheory. Hispattern ofvariability ishisbehavioral signature of person -
ality, thatis,hisconsistent manner ofvarying hisbehavior inparticular situations 
(Shoda, LeeTiernan, &Mischel, 2002). Hispersonality hasasignature thatremains 
stable across situations evenashisbehavior changes. Mischel (1999) believes thatan
adequate theory ofpersonality should “trytopredict andexplain these signatures of
personality, rather thantoeliminate orignore them” (p.46).
Behavior Prediction
InChapter 1,weadvocated thateffective theories should bestated inanif-then frame -
work, butMischel (1999, 2004) isoneofonlyafewpersonality theorists todoso.
Hisbasic theoretical position forpredicting andexplaining isstated asfollows: “If
personality isastable system thatprocesses theinformation about thesituations, 
external orinternal, thenitfollows thatasindividuals encounter different situations, 
theirbehaviors should varyacross thesituations” (p.43).Thistheoretical position 
cangenerate anumber ofhypotheses about behavior outcomes. Itassumes thatper-
sonality mayhavetemporal stability andthatbehaviors mayvaryfrom situation to
situation. Italsoassumes thatprediction ofbehavior restsonaknowledge ofhowand
when various cognitive-affective units areactivated. These units include encodings, 
expectancies, beliefs, competencies, self-regulatory plans, andstrategies, andaffects 
andgoals. 
Situation Variables 
Mischel believes thattherelative influence ofsituation variables andpersonal quali -
tiescanbedetermined byobserving theuniformity ordiversity ofpeople’s responses 
inagiven situation. When different people arebehaving inaverysimilar manner—for 
example, while watching anemotional scene inanengrossing movie—situation vari-
ables aremore powerful thanpersonal characteristics. Ontheother hand, events that
appear thesame mayproduce widely different reactions because personal qualities 
override situational ones. Forexample, several workers mayallbelaidofffrom their
jobs,butindividual differences willleadtodiverse behaviors, depending onthework -
ers’perceived need towork, confidence intheirlevelofskill,andperceived ability to
findanother job.
Early inhiscareer, Mischel conducted studies demonstrating thattheinterac -
tionbetween thesituation andvarious personal qualities wasanimportant determi -
nantofbehavior. Inonestudy, forexample, Mischel andErvin Staub (1965) looked 
atconditions thatinfluenced aperson’s choice ofareward andfound thatboththeFinal PDF to printer