First impressions
can deceive

The people making these judgments, also called attributions, do not take situational influences into account. Perhaps the individual is having car trouble or had to take care of a sick child. Or an individual who turns down social invitations is seen as a loner. Situational influences may include the fact that the individual has to work on weekends to meet a work deadline, or is holding down a second job to make ends meet.

One reason observers ignore situational influences is that they are often invisible. We can see individuals who come in late or who turn down social invitations, but we can't see the complex situational forces that are contributing to their behavior.

Another reason is that it is more difficult to talk about situations because there is not a precise set of terms to describe them. There is a commonly used language to talk about personalities, and we use it often when referring to hard workers or altruistic people. But there is not a widely used language to summarize the situational pressures everyone faces on a daily basis.

At times, situations can be bad and can bring out the worst in people. Last week, I discussed campaign contributions. Decent and well-meaning politicians and contributors are stuck in a system that leads to ethically troublesome behavior such as preferential treatment in the awarding of government contracts.

Another bad situation occurs when there is an already-selected individual for a job that is widely advertised and for which many people apply. The selected person may be someone who is already well known to the hiring committee because of shared networks and community activities. But laws require that many jobs must be advertised widely, and so members of the hiring committee must go through the charade of carrying out an open search. People applying for the job must go through the time and expense of submitting their resumes and writing cover letters, unaware that their efforts are wasted.

An organization's leaders can improve bad situations. One way is to identify them. Bad situations are often marked by a language that is shared among a select group of people.

Phrases such as, "There is no other way to do it," or "Let's not be too public about this" are giveaways.

Another way is to constantly put oneself in the role of various people in different social situations. Questions such as, "How would I feel if I applied for a job that had already been filled by a favored candidate?" are appropriate.

Still another way is to invite outsiders to observe various social situations and to make constructive comments. Many times, people become so wrapped up in their work that they fail to see alternative ways of behaving. Outsiders can offer valuable perspectives.

In one of the best-known research studies of good people in bad situations, well-adjusted college students were assigned to roles in a simulated prison. Students given the role of guards became abusive, and students acting as prisoners became passive and accepting of their fate.

The research, known as the Stanford Prison study, was scheduled for two weeks but had to be terminated after six days because people's behavior became so outrageous. An outsider who visited the prison contributed to the decision to terminate. She reacted negatively to the behavior she observed, and in so doing forced the researchers to examine the implications of their work.