Lecture 1 - Introduction to Personality and Individual Differences Are all human beings the same? At a human nature level YES, this means that well are all physiologically made the same as well as our brain is biologically made in the same way We are like some others, and this is based on the individual differences that individuals have; therefore, some individuals will be similar to each other than other people We are like no other as we all have individual uniqueness. PERSONALITY -> this word comes from the Latin word 'persona' which can be translated as mask, which itself came from the Greek word 'prosopon' which is translated as face. Therefore, the study of personality can be understood as the study of the 'masks; that people wear, thus what individuals show to the world. o There are a series of implications whenever describing personality. Such as: o How a person behaves across time, which is called continuity o How a person behaves across similar situations; called consistency o As well as personal distinctiveness also called uniqueness Idiographic v. Nomothetic approaches Idiographic approach to the study of personality focuses on the individual and describes the personality variables within the individual. The term comes from the Greek idios, which means 'law'. - Theorists that study personality based on this approach, only base their studies on one individual at the time; and produce a unique understanding of the specific individual's personality. Feature Strategy Emphasises the uniqueness of individuals Goal To develop an in-depth understanding of the individual Research Qualitative methodologies to produce case methodology studies mainly, Some generalisation across series of case studies is possible Data collection Interviews, diaries, narratives, treatment of session data Advantages Depth of understanding of the individual Disadvantages Can be difficult to make generalisations from the data o The aim of the idiographic approach is to develop a very detailed and in- depth understanding of the individual. - The idiographic approach is mainly based on qualitative research methodologies (interviews, observations, diaries, etc) to create a case study. - These case studies can then be analyzed and coded to create a personality theory, like in Freud's case. Nomothetic approach to the study of personality is based on the assumption that there is a finite set of variables that can be used to describe human personality. It comes from the Greek term for 'law'. - The aim of this approach is to identify the finite set of personality variables or traits across a group of individuals. " These individuals can then be located within these sets of variables - By studying the larger group for a specific variable, an average level of said variable can be defined for the group (for example, women or men); which is then described as the norm. · An individual can then be described as above or below average based on the norm of that particular personality trait. Idiographic Nomothetic Focuses on similarities between groups of individuals. Individuals are unique only in the way their