PSYCH101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Nomothetic, Trait Theory, Factor Analysis

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH101
• Professor: Paul Wehr

Document Summary

A characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving that is unique to each individual, and remains relatively consistent over time and situations idiographic approach creating detailed descriptions of a spe(cid:272)ifi(cid:272) pe(cid:396)so(cid:374)"s unique personality characteristics. Ex) trying to figure out why your cousin is weird, why your friend is keep making bad relationship decisions. Ex) criminal profilers may focus on a detailed study of a serial killer in order to help police in their investigation nomothetic approach. Examine personality in large groups of people, with the aim of making generalizations about personality structure. Examine what types of people are more or less likely to engage in certain behaviours. A pe(cid:396)so(cid:374)"s ha(cid:271)itual patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving, how that pe(cid:396)so(cid:374) is (cid:862)(cid:373)ost of the time(cid:863) Help to predict how that person will behave across a range of different situations (ex. extraverted person will most likely have large number of friends) Ex) extraverted, introverted, easy-going the barnum effect.