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Behavior Varies by Environment; Quality of Data Does Not

School of Medicine at Wayne State University.

Mary Ann Parris Stephens

Kent State University.

Edwin P. Willems

University of Houston Central Campus;Baylor College of Medicine.

Since environments affect ordinary behaviors, could they also affect the accuracy of self-reports and thus research findings? This study confirmed that the behavior of most people did vary among different environments, and then examined the role of environment-behavior dependencies in the accuracy of self-reports of behavior for the same persons. Ten persons monitored and reported their own behaviors, which were also recorded by independent observers. Findings demonstrated environmental influences in ordinary aspects of their behavior, but few variations in accuracy of the data that could attributed to the environments in which the behaviors had occurred. Since the accuracy of the method does not appear to be linked to variations in the environments, these results enhance the utility of self-reports for environment-behavior research.

Environment and Behavior, Vol. 14, No. 4, 425-442 (1982)
DOI: 10.1177/0013916582144003


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