Approaches to the study of social situation and its subjective interpretation

The article presents the results of theoretical and methodological analysis to the problem of understanding and explaining social reality from the standpoint of situational and personal approaches. From the perspective of situational approach the study of social situations rests on the study of the situational causes of the action. Researchers are interested in identifying the causes that lead to the change in behavior over time - the adaptation of the individual to the changing site conditions. From the perspective of personal approach the study of situations should be based on the characterological features of the individual, whose behavior interrelates with interpsychic processes. The authors draw conclusions that for a comprehensive study of the psychological picture of the world of the individual one must rely on the personal-situational approach, since the individual and his environment cannot be studied isolatedly. The article proves that the study of the personality and the environment is necessary in unity. The unit of measurement is the emotional experience which is an active attitude of the individual to the situation. The works of K. Levine, W. Thomas, L.S. Vygotsky show that behavior depends not on the so called "objective" situation, but the situation based on the emotional experience of the individual.