The debate is also an important discussion when studying social psychology, as both topics address the various ways a person could react to a given situation.
[3] Gordon Allport and Henry Murray both supported the idea of a consistent personality with occasional situational influences.
He stated: "...with the possible exception of intelligence, highly generalised behavioral consistencies have not been demonstrated, and the concept of personality traits as broad dispositions is thus untenable"[6]: 146 His book was a non-systematic meta-analysis of some of the research on the relationship between behavioral and personality traits (assessed by either self-report or peer-report).
[7] With a fair review of the literature, the predictability of behavior from traits may be larger than what researchers previously assumed.
The situationist argument was formed based on research studies that were conducted in laboratory situations, and therefore did not reflect behavior in real life.
According to Allport, personality will be more likely to exhibit greater apparent effects in real situations that are important and influential to the individual being observed.
[15][16] It may also be that on average, individuals act consistently, and therefore personality research may be more telling as general behavioral trends than specific instances.
Words that make people more sensitive to individual differences are continuing to be created and formed today.
[7] Mischel's book raised important questions about trait concepts and measures in psychological research.
[24] Some researchers have suggested the possibility of situational factors (like social roles) eliciting situation-specific goals which then influence the development of personality traits.
[27] One possible reason the debate is still discussed is because it criticizes foundational personality psychology ideas from Franz Boas and John B. Watson that date back to the early 20th century.
[30] Personality psychologists William Fleeson and Erik Noftle have suggested that the person-situation debate ended in a synthesis.