| Abstract: | Discusses the implications of the sociocultural environment for the study of personality. Two issues are considered. The first concerns the effects of the sociocultural environment on experimental findings obtained at the situational level. The trait–situation controversy is used as an example of a basic personality datum that is markedly affected by sociocultural environmental variables. The data yielded by studies of the interaction between sex and aggression provide another instance of a research issue that has been investigated without adequate consideration of the environmental context. A second issue involves the effects of the sociocultural environment on theoretical models and modes of interpretation of experimental findings. The degree of emphasis given to biological social antecedents of aggression provides one example of a theoretical interpretation and research strategy that is particularly vulnerable to variations in the sociocultural environment. More profoundly, social forces in the environment may affect the theoretical importance ascribed to internal psychological states and personality processes. Empirical investigation of the role of the sociocultural environment in shaping personality organization and in affecting psychological research and theory may help reduce the effects of these cultural "blinders." (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
