The document, compiled by Col. Mukteshwar Prasad, discusses the concept of 'situation' in psychological research, defining it as the dynamic circumstances outside an individual's control, and detailing methods to measure situational variables through cues and characteristics. It emphasizes the interaction between person and situation variables in influencing behavior, as well as the processes by which individuals transition between situations. The conclusion highlights the growing interest in the study of situations, noting the need for more comprehensive and interdisciplinary research to uncover the complexities of situational dynamics.

1. Compiled by Col Mukteshwar Prasad(Retd),
MTech(IITD),CE(I),FIE(I),FIETE,FISLE,FInstOD,AMCSI
Contact -9007224278, e-mail –
muktesh_prasad@yahoo.co.in
for book ”Decoding Services Selection Board” and SSB
ON line guidance and training at Shivnandani Edu and
Defence Academy
Person- Situation – Environment 2.0
Ref- The Situation of Situation Research: Knowns and Unknowns
By
John F. Rauthmann &Ryne A Sherman

2. Introduction
 A situation is a set of fleeting(Lasting for very short time),
dynamic, and momentary circumstances that do not lie within a person
(i.e., they are neither own mental processes nor own behavior), but in their
surroundings.
Rauthmann, 2015
 Three situational information provide a lens to define situation :
 Cues-Something happening in our environment we interpret as in need
of a response.
 Characteristics(are the perceived qualities or attributes of situations)
 Characteristics are psychologically meaningful interpretations of
situations formed from single or multiple cues once they have been
implicitly or explicitly processed.
 Classes are types of situations that are grouped together because they
tend to share similar constellations, or patterns, of characteristics
 A Componential Approach to Situation
 Perceiver, Situation, and Perceiver Situation components situation

3. Ways to measure Situation
 Cues can be measured
 Objectively (e.g., via cameras, microphones, life-logging systems,
sensors; or
 Subjectively (e.g., inquiring about perceived or remembered cues from
participants).
 Study state-state relations
 Characteristics( perceived attributes of situations) can only be
measured
 By asking participants –Those directly in the situation and affected by it
(in situ raters),- IO
 Merely observing the situation unfold without being directly implicated
(juxta situm raters)-GTO
 Observing recordings or coding verbal descriptions of others’
situations (ex situ raters ) – about how they would describe situations -
Psychologists
 Classes – By asking participants or by classifying cues or characteristics
data
 A “true” situational variable would be best approximated from multiple

4. Difference between Raters
Situation Perception
Dimensions
Rater Type
In situ Juxta
Situm
Ex Situ
I Physical Presence
in setting
Yes Yes No
II Personal
Experience
Yes Yes No
III Personal
Involvement
Yes Partially No
IV Personal
affectedness
Yes No No
V Source of
situation inference
Personal
Experienc
On line/
On side
Off line
Observatio

6. How do situation variables relate to person
variables?
 An outcome variable (e.g., behavior) is a function of both person and
situation variables (Kurt Lewin formula)
 B= f(P,S)—(B= Behaviour (Outcome),P= Person, S= Situation)
 Person and Situation variables can show different relations
 Among themselves ( function(s) relating them ) and
 To other variables (outcomes)
 Fig 2 attempts to bring clarity in term “person-situation interactions.”
 Basic person-situation relation phenomena can be distinguished:
 Correlations (person and situation variables are concurrently
associated with each other),
 Interactions (a situation variable moderates the strength of relation
between a person variable and an outcome variable, and vice versa),
and
 Transactions (person variables predict situation variables, and
situation variables predict person variables, across time).
 The fit between person and situation variables -A special case of
either correlation or interaction

7. How do situation variables relate to person
variables?
 Single or entire profiles of variables of persons and situations
“match” together (functionally or content wise) may have
consequences for
 Intrapersonal (e.g. , mental health, well-being, life-satisfaction, self-
esteem) and
 Interpersonal adjustment (e.g., status, popularity),
 Thus person-situation fit can be seen as a linchpin(Vital) concept
in psychology
(Kristof-Brown & Guay, 2011; Rauthmann, forthcoming).

8. How do people transition from one situation to another over time?
 The demarcation of situations (Ending of one and beginning of next)
 Situations change when the physical cues change Or
 When people change their perceptions of the situation
 1.Situations must be thought in terms of cues, characteristics, and
classes as any of these information sources may change
 2.Situation change may be studied
 Within individuals (e.g., ideographically(idea of things) examining
dynamic networks of situation characteristics across time within single
persons) or
 Between individuals (e.g., nomothetically (universal laws) examining
situation change across several persons where inter-individual
differences in change are possible).
 3. Situation change may be examined at the level of
 Single variables or
 Profiles of variables.

9. How do people transition from one situation to another over time?
 Despite complexities, people show remarkable consensus in
demarcating situations when given a video stream out of a person’s
life
 This means they agree on when one situation ends and the other begins,
suggesting that even the subjective perception of change may be
somewhat normative(Standard Behaviour).
 Why situations change in the first place ?
 Situations can change on their own and outside of the agency of
persons
 A persons can also navigate, influence, and shape them to certain
degrees
 Table 2 summarizes such person
→ situation navigation mechanisms which can be enacted
 Willingly or Unwillingly,
 More passively or Actively, and
 With intended or unintended effects:
o Maintaining versus terminating and

11. The Unknowns and Future of Situation Research
 1.Present focus has to shift to all class and all cultural ,all nation study of
taxonomies of situation characteristics
 “Replicable Six” needs to be comprehensively studied
 2. All situation characteristics taxonomies are relatively broad domains
which needs to be multi-faceted and organized in a hierarchy like
personality traits
 3.Replication of existing research on how situation perceptions, traits, and
states are linked
for other samples and countries
 4. Future research should thus try to focus more on situations as
unfolding processes rather than viewing them as static entities.
 Integrating different literatures, perspectives, and theories would make
situation research more synthetic, appealing, and useful across
disciplinary boarders.
 5.Process-focused conceptualization of situations, the person
→situation navigation mechanisms deserve further theoretical and
empirical work.
 6.Longitudinal research tracking cues, characteristics, or classes of
participants’ situations across their lifespan.
 Cumulative empirical evidence will have to be integrated into theories
that will generate new hypotheses and help the field be productive in
the long turn.

12. Conclusion
 Research on psychological situations has been
gaining traction and thriving, especially in
the last decade.
 It has comprehensively addressed the
conceptualization, measurement,taxonomization, and
usefulness of different kinds of situational information,
most notably situation characteristics.
 Still many more exciting questions await exploring
and answering.