x = f (ff person, ff environment).
One is tempted to formulate the underlying relation between the two independent variables as an additive one, for if the effective environmental force is zero (which would mean that the combination of environmental factors neither hinders nor furthers the result at), then x will depend only on the effective personal force." - Meaning and context.">
p. 82
“

The action outcome, x , may then be said to be dependent upon a combination of effective personal force and effective environmental force, thus:
    x = f (ff person, ff environment).
One is tempted to formulate the underlying relation between the two independent variables as an additive one, for if the effective environmental force is zero (which would mean that the combination of environmental factors neither hinders nor furthers the result at), then x will depend only on the effective personal force.

— Fritz Heider

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The action outcome, x , may then be said to be dependent upon a combination of effective personal force and effective environmental force, thus:
    x = f (ff person, ff environment).
One is tempted to formulate the underlying relation between the two independent variables as an additive one, for if the effective environmental force is zero (which would mean that the combination of environmental factors neither hinders nor furthers the result at), then x will depend only on the effective personal force." in the context of "p. 82" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Fritz Heider" (Quotes, The psychology of interpersonal relations, 1958: Fritz Heider (1958), The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: Wiley) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

About Fritz Heider

Fritz Heider (February 19, 1896 – January 2, 1988) was an Austrian psychologist whose work was related to the Gestalt school. In 1958 he published The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations, which expanded upon his creations of balance theory and attribution theory.