The debate about idiographic and nomothetic approaches to psychology is a philosophical debate about studying people. In psychology, we can study humans using several approaches, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Let’s consider the idiographic and nomothetic approaches in more depth below.
- We are going to delve into the idiographic and nomothetic approaches in the context of psychology. First, we will establish the meaning of the terms idiographic and nomothetic.
- Next, we will establish the difference between the idiographic and nomothetic approaches.
- We will look at a few examples of idiographic and nomothetic approaches.
- We will then look at personality through the lens of each of the nomothetic and idiographic approaches.
- Finally, we will list the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
Fig. 1 - Psychology studies human behaviour through a variety of lenses.
Idiographic vs Nomothetic Approach
The nomothetic approach describes the study of people as a total population and uses quantitative research methods. In contrast, the idiographic approach describes the study of the individual and uses qualitative methods. The nomothetic approach studies large groups to formulate laws and generalise behaviour to the population. The idiographic approach does not formulate laws or generalise findings.
- Research methods used in the nomothetic approach include experiments, correlations, and meta-analyses.
- Research methods used in the idiographic approach include unstructured interviews, case studies, and thematic analysis.
The term nomothetic comes from the Greek word nomos, meaning law. The term idiographic comes from the Greek word idios, which means personal or private.
We can divide the general laws identified into several types:
- The classification of people into groups (e.g., the DSM for mood disorders).
- Principles such as the behavioural laws of learning.
- Dimensions such as Eysenck's personality inventory allow comparisons between people. Eysenck's personality theory is based on three dimensions: introversion vs extroversion, neuroticism vs stability, and psychoticism.
The idiographic approach focuses on individual perceptions and feelings and collects qualitative data to obtain in-depth and unique details about individuals instead of numerical data.
We can often see humanistic and psychodynamic psychologists' idiographic approaches in case studies.
The Difference Between the Idiographic and Nomothetic Approach
The idiographic approach emphasises the uniqueness of the individual through their emotions, behaviour, and experiences. It aims to gather in-depth information about a person. On the other hand, the nomothetic approach aims to find the commonalities among people and tries to generalise behaviour through laws that apply to all.
For example, the idiographic approach to studying personality assumes that our mental structures are unique and remarkable and possess different characteristics and qualities.
The nomothetic approach to personality would identify commonalities of personality dimensions applicable to the whole population into which people can be placed.
Cognitive psychology approaches combine both methods. They use a nomothetic approach to establish general laws of cognitive process and apply an idiographic approach to work on case studies.
Idiographic and Nomothetic Approach: Examples
Here are some examples of idiographic and nomothetic approaches to get a good grip on the topic at hand.
The Biological Approach: Nomothetic
The biological approach is an example of a nomothetic approach in psychology.
The biological approach examines the biological components of human behaviours and disorders and suggests there is a biological cause for said behaviours and disorders.
The theories proposed by the biological approach are often ascribed to everyone afterwards and can thus be considered nomothetic.
Classical and Operant Conditioning: Nomothetic
Operant conditioning of behaviour is an excellent example of a nomothetic approach. When Pavlov and Skinner conducted their research with rats, dogs, and pigeons to test learning behaviours, they developed general laws of learning classical and operant conditioning.
Watson also generalised these laws and applied them to humans. They are still used in behavioural therapies for phobias, systematic desensitisation, and other problems.
Conformity, Obedience, and Situational Factors: Nomothetic
Social psychologists Asch and Milgram argue that situational factors are another nomothetic approach. When they conducted research to understand the situational factors involved in social behaviour, they concluded that situational factors could influence the degree of conformity and obedience to anyone because they apply a general law.
Humanistic and Psychodynamic Approach: Idiographic
Humanistic psychology and the psychodynamic approach are good examples of idiographic methodology. Humanistic psychology applies a person-centred approach. Therefore, it is considered idiographic because it promotes a focus exclusively on subjective experience. It is usually used in a clinical setting because it focuses on the individual.
The psychodynamic approach also has nomothetic components, as seen in Freud's discussion on the stages of development everyone goes through. However, the case studies Freud used show the idiographic aspects of his theories.
Fig. 2 - The psychodynamic approach has nomothetic and idiographic aspects.
Little Hans: Oedipus Complex
Freud's (1909) case study of Little Hans is an example of an idiographic approach. Freud conducted meticulous research on his patients' cases to understand their psychological problems better. The case study of Little Hans is about a five-year-old boy who was afraid of horses.
Freud collected detailed data that spanned over one hundred and fifty pages and months of work. He concluded that Little Hans behaved this way out of jealousy of his father because Freud believed that Little Hans was going through the Oedipus complex.
Nomothetic and Idiographic Approaches to Psychology
Let’s take a look at the study of personality through the lens of the nomothetic and idiographic approaches. A nomothetic approach would understand personality in terms of a few basic traits that can be generalised and applied to everyone.
Hans Eysenck (1964, 1976) is an example of the nomothetic approach to personality. His Theory of Three Factors identifies three basic personality traits: extroversion (E), neuroticism (N), and psychoticism (P).
Personality is understood according to where an individual falls along a spectrum of these three factors. (Extroversion vs Introversion, Neuroticism vs Emotional Stability, and Psychoticism vs Self-Control.) In this model, personality can be measured along these three axes through standardised testing.
An idiographic approach understands personality through the lens of every individual’s unique experiences and history. As you can imagine, this creates an endless number of possible personality traits. As such, it is impossible to measure these qualities through standardized testing.
Carl Roger’s Q-Sort (1940) test is an example of the idiographic approach to personality. The Q technique involves presenting subjects with 100 q-cards containing self-referential statements.
For example, “I am a good person.” “I am not a trustworthy person.” Subjects then sorted the cards into several piles on a scale of “most like me” to “least like me.”
Subjects had control over how many ascending piles they created. As a result, there is an infinite number of possible personality profiles.
Idiographic and Nomothetic Approach: Evaluation
This section will compare and contrast the idiographic to the nomothetic approach to show the strengths and weaknesses.
Advantages of a Nomothetic Approach
Using the nomothetic approach, large samples of individuals can be used to obtain representative results. It also uses a scientific methodology to make experiments replicable and reliable. Laboratory experiments are controlled and scientifically robust, usually.
Since this approach is scientific, it can be used to predict behaviour and provide treatment plans based on biological abnormalities.
For example, one of the explanations for OCD is low serotonin levels in the brain. Therefore, drugs are being developed to improve serotonin uptake and treat OCD.
Disadvantages of a Nomothetic Approach
However, the nomothetic approach lacks awareness of individual and unique perspectives because it assumes that universal laws of behaviour apply to everyone. Likewise, cultural and gender differences may not be considered in nomothetic methods.
It ignores individual differences.
Most experiments are conducted in a laboratory. Therefore, results may lack realism and ecological validity; these studies may not apply to real-world circumstances.
Advantages of an Idiographic Approach
The idiographic approach focuses on individuals and can explain behaviour more deeply. Humanistic psychologists argue that we can only predict their actions at a given moment if we know the person. The results are a source of ideas or hypotheses for the studies.
Case studies can help develop nomothetic laws by providing more information.
For example, the case of HM has dramatically helped our understanding of memory.
Disadvantages of an Idiographic Approach
Idiographic methods lack scientific evidence. Since fewer people are studied, no general laws or predictions can be made. Because of this, it is often seen as a narrow and limited approach.
Modern scientific standards often dismiss Freud's theories for methodology issues and a lack of scientific basis.
Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches - Key takeaways
- The term 'nomothetic' comes from the Greek word nomos, meaning law. The nomothetic approach focuses on establishing general laws about human behaviour, generally using quantitative data. Methods that support research using a nomothetic approach include experiments, correlations, and meta-analysis.
- The term 'idiographic' comes from the Greek word idios, meaning 'personal' or 'private'. The idiographic approach focuses on individual perceptions, emotions, and behaviours and collects qualitative data to obtain in-depth and unique details about individuals.
- Examples of the nomothetic approach include the biological approach in psychology, classical and operant conditioning, conformity, and obedience. The cognitive approach is largely nomothetic with idiographic aspects to it.
- Examples of the idiographic approach include the Little Hans case study and the humanistic approach. The psychodynamic approach is partially idiographic but has nomothetic components.
- The nomothetic approach uses the scientific method and is more controlled and reliable. However, it ignores individual differences and can be reductionist. The idiographic approach accounts for individual differences, providing more complete analysis of human behaviour, but has issues with methodology and reliability.
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