Interactionist Theories of Leadership

The Person-Situation Debate

The idea of a connection between the individual and the environment was originally advanced by social psychologist Kurt Lewin as part of field theory. In 1951, Lewin outlined the famous formula, B = f (P, E). Lewin held that behavior (B) is a function (f) of the interconnection between the person (P) and the environment (E). Personal factors include emotions, traits, beliefs, and thought processes, and the environment refers to both the social and physical atmosphere in which the person is located. Lewin argued that the person and the environment weave together in a dynamic interplay that operates as a psychological field (called the lifespace) in predicting behavior. Therefore, to consider the person or the situation independently would, at best, provide a partial picture of behavior.

Lewin's B = f (P, E) formula echoes the basic proposition of the interactionist perspective. However, what is known as the interactionist perspective was first formalized as a result of a larger person-situation debate in psychology, which was triggered by the publication of Walter Mischel's famous book Personality and Assessment in 1968. In this book, Mischel criticized the individual difference (e.g., in traits, skills, abilities, values) approach to explaining behavior. Mischel reviewed various studies on personality and behavior and reported that only small correlations (below r = .30) were usually evidenced between these factors. As a result, he argued that personality was a relatively weak predictor of behavior and that behavior is too inconsistent from one situation to another to be accurately predicted from personality traits. In advocating for a situational approach, Mischel held that behavior is more fruitfully examined by considering situational factors.

Scholars who studied individual differences (e.g., in traits, skills, abilities, values) put forth various refutations of Mischel's position. However, one scholar refuted the situational approach from a different perspective. In 1973, Kenneth Bowers wrote an article that criticized the methodological underpinnings of the situational approach, while simultaneously advancing the interactionist perspective. Since then, the interactionist perspective (also known as interactional psychology) has been refined by a number of scholars.

The Interactionist Perspective

The interactionist perspective holds that individuals are active agents and perceivers of reality. Personal and situational factors cannot be detangled from one another in explaining behavior because of the nature of the human cognitive system. Individuals cognitively filter the social world based on personal factors such as cognitive proclivities (e.g., how information is processed, what type of categories are accessible), skills, and past experiences. Based on individuals' perceptions, situations are imbued with particular meaning and are actively constructed through behavior.

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