Citation

Sears RR. Am. Psychol. 1951; 6(9): 476-482.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1951, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/h0063671

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In the last twenty years "data of social psychology have been meager and personality studies have been mostly restricted to clinical observations." A theory is needed to facilitate development in these areas. Properties of a theory for personality and social behavior include (1) actions, i.e., "the basic events to which behavior theory has reference"; (2) dynamics, i.e., "changes in behavior in (a) performance (b) acquisition and (c) potentialities for action." If personality and social behavior are to be included in a single theory, the basic monadic unit of behavior must be expendable into a diadic one. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)