Personality
The study of personality builds on the everyday recognition that people around us are different in their social behavior, and seem to be disposed to react in particular ways. It seeks to characterize in a rigorous way the basis of that difference by identifying characteristic patterns of behavior that are distinctive and consistent across time. Some accounts of personality try to use these characterizations as a basis for predicting future behavior by establishing lawlike generalizations about factors that underpin variation in all people. These accounts, sometimes referred to as nomothetic statements, adhere to a scientific model of inquiry which sees the testing of predictions, ideally in an experimental setting, as the best way to establish a secure understanding. They are part of a tradition in psychology that focuses on individual differences, for example intelligence. Other accounts, sometimes referred to as idiographic accounts, focus on the individual in depth and pursue an understanding of that individual using a variety of interpretive or phenomenological approaches.
© Cambridge University Press 2006
