Differential and Personality Psychology

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The Differential Psychology and Personality Psychology form a central area of psychology with three tasks:

  • to describe and explain the individual differences in individual psychological characteristics and in the relatively persistent personality traits,
  • the empirical results to a theory of personality to integrate
  • and to develop suitable strategies and practical methods of psychological diagnostics and to justify them theoretically.

Content area

The above goals mark the difference to general psychology , which researches those psychological laws that apply equally to all individuals. Differential psychology and personality psychology are the most important foundations of applied psychology , because the psychological practice of work and school psychology, counseling, psychotherapy, etc. is usually based on the observed differences between people or groups of people. In this context, personality psychology is also regarded as part of leadership psychology .

Important research topics are, for example, intelligence diagnostics (see intelligence quotient ), creativity , but also the general question of what these differences between individuals are based on, for example, to what extent they come about through predisposition or are acquired and developed through experience (see heritability ) .

Scientific research concepts ( paradigms ) of personality psychology deviate from everyday psychological ideas of personality . Psychologists look for a theoretically founded personality model, while in naive (subjective) everyday theories, for example, everyday attribution processes are used (example: "He behaves like this because he has a strong personality"). Examples of scientific paradigms are the psychoanalytic , the interactionist , the behaviorist , the evolutionary psychological and the information processing paradigm.

History: two related disciplines or one common discipline?

In the context of university research and training, there is seldom a separation between differential psychology and personality psychology. Often the terms are also used synonymously; in the academic examination regulations there is often a double name. However, differentiation options can be worked out.

The Differential Psychology aims to differences (differences) between individuals (or groups) from terms of specific personality traits. Differences between the individual persons (i.e. inter-individually), but also within a person himself (intra-individually) are examined. Typical questions are, for example:

  • Is Karin smarter than Marion?
  • Are men more motivated to achieve than women?
  • Do younger people have greater emotional stability than older people?
  • Does the memory change during the day?
  • How stable are personality traits over the life span of an individual?

The focus is therefore on the individual characteristics of an individual (or group) in which it stands out from other individuals (or groups).

The personality psychology emphasizes the interaction between the different personality characteristics which, and especially makes a person unique. The subject of personality psychology is therefore the unique unity of characteristics that make up the individual. Typical questions regarding personality as an overall system would be:

  • Does Mr. Mueller's emotional depression have to do with his stress at work?
  • What is the connection between social integration and the state of health of children with a migration background?
  • What is the relationship between dominant leadership behavior and professional success?

Personality psychology (personality research) has a long history in character studies (characterology) and biographical psychology. Since time immemorial there have been attempts to grasp, explain and understand the character , temperament and talent of a person as a whole. These traditional teachings and the intention to know about human beings can also be seen in the empirical soul science that was widespread in the 18th and 19th centuries . In personality theories , the research results are linked to a theory via the various individual differences. In addition to the description of individual characteristics and personality traits, the pattern and the inner context, the structure and dynamics as well as the development principles of the entire personality are asked. Personality psychology sometimes also requires a different methodological approach, i. H. not only descriptive, experimental and statistical methods, but also psychological interpretation and biographical methodology to understand the life and development context of a personality.

Both directions are still present today as a pronounced and often irritating pluralism of methods and theories in this area and can be understood as a difficult contradiction or a necessary addition. Already so developed William Stern , who is considered the founder of systematic differential psychology, a personology (personalism, personalism ) and Hans Thomae saw in psychological biography, the synthesis of nomothetic and ideographic research.

Some textbooks use only one of the two terms for the entire area, and the issues in the other area are only treated in a subordinate manner. That both directions are indispensable is shown in practice when it comes to the description, assessment, diagnosis and prediction of certain personality traits. This procedure requires a personality theory as a scientific reference system in order to be able to justify the selection, arrangement and interpretation of the individual personality traits and the preferred research methodology. Descriptive differential psychology provides the empirical basis for the more or less broad personality theories and the corresponding theory-based diagnosis and application.

Choice of personality theories

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Schütz, A., Rüdiger, M., & Rentzsch, K. (2016). Textbook Personality Psychology (1st edition). Bern: Hogrefe. ISBN 978-3-456-85592-9