• Is people's behavior best explained by the circumstances and situation they find themselves in, or by their personality, which guides behavior no matter what the situation is?

• Does the personality of an individual transcend the immediate situation and moment to provide a consistent guide to his or her actions or is what a person does completely dependent upon the situation he or she is in at the time?

For Example: if you were placed on the sport field or in military combat, you would probably behave more aggressively than normal.  In fact, even quite passive and submissive people become aggressive given sufficient provocation.  This suggests that behavior may be explained by understanding not only the personality, but also how we react to the environment and its circumstances.  We term this emphasis on the role of situational circumstances, a "situational" view of personality.

The question provoked by the situation vs. person debate is to what extent which behavior can be predicted by personality vs. the extent to which that behavior arises from the dynamics of the situation and to what extent from the inherent characteristics of the person themselves.  
In other words, what drives behavior: personality or the interpretation of the situation.  

The Person vs. Situation Debate
It has been a hotly contested topic since the late 1960's.  Perhaps not surprisingly, the answer is that behavior is best understood as both situation and person.  Thus, as with the nature vs. nurture debate, we may be better off studying the interaction more closely, to better understand the phenomena of human behavior and experience.

Behavior = Personality x Interpretation of the Situation
Mischel (1968) sparks personality vs. situation debate.  In 1968, Walter Mischel challenged the assumption that personality determined behavior, and instead claimed that people's behavior from situation to situation was variable and depended on the situational circumstances.  In other words, the "situation" view is that behavior depends on the situation itself, whereas the personality view is that behavior depends on long-held characteristic personality styles and is consistently displayed no matter the situation.

The Personality-Situation Relationship
It is vital to appreciate that there are individual differences in this relationship.

HIGH Self-Monitors, those who understand their behavioral tendencies, display a higher ability to adapt their natural behavior to the situation creating a higher level of effectiveness and productivity in their lives and careers.

LOW Self-Monitors, those who do not understand their behavioral tendencies, display a lower ability to adapt their natural behavior to the situation simply because they are unaware of their behavioral tendencies risk misunderstanding and decreased effectiveness.

In Summary
Awareness of your behavioral tendencies, and the tendencies of others, through the use of DiSC Products, DiSC Profiles, DiSC Assessments, and DiSC Personality Tests give you and your organizational teams a competitive edge.