dispositionality

Dispositionality refers to the quality of an entity that makes it prone to certain behaviors or responses under specific conditions. The term is used across disciplines to describe dispositions, propensities, or powers that are not observable in a single moment but are revealed when the appropriate triggers occur. In metaphysics and the philosophy of science, dispositional properties are contrasted with categorical properties. A porcelain cup is fragile; its fragility is a dispositional property because it entails a tendency to break when struck, not merely a present state of being.

Philosophers debate whether dispositions are real properties of objects or useful theoretical constructs that summarize patterns of behavior. Questions include how dispositions relate to underlying base properties and how to resolve apparently incompatible dispositions that manifest under different circumstances.

In the social sciences, dispositionality is used to describe explanations of human behavior that appeal to internal traits or dispositions rather than to situational factors. The long-standing person–situation debate examined how much behavior is driven by stable personality traits versus context. Contemporary work generally recognizes that both dispositions and environments shape actions, though cultural norms and situational constraints can influence how traits are expressed. Researchers also study how reliably dispositions predict behavior and how beliefs about dispositions affect judgments and policy.

Overall, dispositionality provides a framework for explaining stability and variability in behavior and properties, while inviting careful consideration of context, measurement, and the relationship between what things are and how they tend to act.