Situations

First, let’s talk about exactly what we mean by a situation. A situation consists of any external forces which influence the thinking, feelings, or behavior of the individuals within them. Any one of these forces can be analyzed as a unique situational variable.

Situational forces can also include a longer time frame of what is going on for someone.  It is extremely important to try and see a situation from the perspective of everyone involved. Otherwise important information remains invisible to people when making explanations for the behavior of others. It is especially easy to misjudge someone when we make assumptions about them which ignore situational forces.  Some situations may include sitting in class, working a night shift, walking through the inner city, or going on a blind date. In each of these examples, there is a different mix of social influences at play.

When analyzing situational variables some good questions to ask might include: “What are the group influences at play? Is someone being pressured or expected to act a certain way because of what is going on around them? Would the people make the same choices if they were by themselves? Am I being influenced by the presence of the people around me to act in a certain way?”

Individuals

After we look at the situation, we need to consider the individuals within it, and think about what they are bringing with them into the situation, which we refer to as individual variables. These can include things like beliefs, culture, expectations, and past experiences. However, it is better to focus here on what might be going on inside a person’s head and how they are viewing things, rather than to try and describe their personality, which can lead people to making inaccurate judgments and assumptions about others.

When analyzing situational variables some good questions to ask might include: “What do things look like from that person’s perspective. What do I know that they might not be aware of? What might be going on that I would have a hard time spotting? If I only knew and saw what that person had in this situation, how would I feel or think about things?”

Systems

Another aspect of the situation is the larger system of laws, infrastructure, and informal rules which are creating and reinforcing the situation itself. Being in class with the same people at the same time each week is a system which creates the classroom situation. Like situational forces, systemic influences on behavior are hard to spot unless you learn to mindfully look for them. Systems create many situations and they also create the justifications, reasons, rules that maintain particular situations.

Don’t worry about focusing on the system too much while you are new to making a situational analysis, they will get easier to spot over time, and can also be difficult to change without a specific strategy.