idiographic-nomothetic psychology

n. Idiographic-nomothetic psychology can be thought of as divergent metatheoretical approaches to thinking about behavior and as assessment techniques that can be used to study behavior. At a metatheoretic level, idio- graphic perspectives view behavior as a function of a constellation of affects, cognitions, and environments that are unique to a particular individual. Idiographic approaches consequently utilize assessment techniques that are designed to access and preserve the unique qualities of the individual and that make that individual distinct from other persons. In contrast, nomothetic perspectives view behavior in terms of general processes that can be used to describe or class the behavior of large groups of persons. Assessment techniques are therefore geared toward describing and classing the behavior of relatively homogeneous groups of persons and describing the ways these large homogeneous classes of persons differ from other homogeneous classes. Though these terms can be traced to Kantian philosophy, the nomothetic-idiographic distinction in psychology has its roots in Gordon Allport's early (1930s) conceptualizations of personality. Both terms are used in contemporary personality and clinical psychology.

-WGS