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42-1 What do social psychologists study? How do we tend to explain others’ behavior and our own?

Personality psychologists focus on the person. They study the personal traits and dynamics that explain why different people may act differently in a given situation, such as the one Willems faced. (Would you have helped the jailer out of the icy water?) Social psychologists focus on the situation. They study the social influences that explain why the same person will act differently in different situations. Might the jailer have acted differently—opting not to march Willems back to jail—under differing circumstances?