Demystification Monday Person vs Situation

All you writers of the dystopian genre might have particular interest in this one, but anyone who's putting a character in an extreme situation might want to pay attention as well.

Here is a relatively common misconception (when we're judging other people's behavior):

No matter the situation, your behavior depends entirely on what kind of person you are.

Well ... that's not such a crazy idea. Put 100 people in the same situation and they won't all act the same. For example, say a bunch of people are taken hostage. Some will cower and cry. Others will plot escape nonstop. A few will try to get friendly with the captors, even if it means tattling on the other hostages. Others will be utterly hostile and completely uncooperative. And some will do whatever it takes to get others out, even at the risk of their own lives. So what would you do? Do you know for sure?

How about this one: you're given a job. You're supposed to administer an electric shock to another person as part of a learning experiment. When the person makes a mistake, you must shock them. If they keep making mistakes, you must shock them more. If you hesitate, the boss will come in and stand over you, telling you that you have to do it. You're a good person, right? Would you push the shock button?

No?


Are you sure?

If you were observing this experiment from the outside, you'd probably be thinking, "What kind of sick, heartless, weak person could do something like that?"

If you were the person with that button beneath your sweaty fingers, you'd probably be thinking, "Why are they making me do this??" Zap.

This is what humans do. When we see someone do something, or when we see something happen to someone (especially something bad), we usually decide that the event occurred because of the person. His/her personality. Genetics. Soul. Whatever. Something inside of that person. You know, that person was lazy. Careless. Stupid. Evil. We go for the "dispositional" explanation rather than the "situational" one. This is so common that it has a name: Fundamental Attribution Error.

But situations have incredible power over us. You've probably heard of the Stanford Prison Experiment? Male college students were randomly assigned to play the roles of guard or prisoner for two weeks in a simulated prison. Except ... the experiment had to be ended after only 6 days.