idiographic

adj. relating to the description and understanding of an individual case, as opposed to the formulation of nomothetic general laws describing the average case that can then be applied to the single case. U.S. psychologists Kenneth MacCorquadale (1919–1986) and Paul Everett Meehl identified these as two contrasting traditions in explaining psychological phenomena. An idiographic approach involves the thorough, intensive study of a single person or case in order to obtain an in-depth understanding of that person or case, as contrasted with a study of the universal aspects of groups of people or cases. In those areas of psychology in which the individual person is the unit of analysis (e.g., in personality, developmental, or clinical psychology), the idiographic approach has appeal because it seeks to characterize a particular individual, emphasizing that individual’s characteristic traits (i.e., idiographic traits or unique traits) and the uniqueness of the individual’s behavior and adjustment, rather than to produce a universal set of psychological constructs that might be applicable to a population.

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Psychology term of the day

January 28th 2025

sociocultural perspective

1. any viewpoint or approach to health, mental health, history, politics, economics, or any other area of human experience that emphasizes the environmental factors of society, culture, and social interaction.

2. in developmental psychology, the view that cognitive development is guided by adults interacting with children, with the cultural context determining to a large extent how, where, and when these interactions take place. A major pioneer of this perspective was Lev Vygotsky, whose sociocultural theory posited that the developmental process was one of gradual mastery by children of their own “natural” cognitive functions through interaction with and guidance from more skilled individuals or mentors (e.g., parents, teachers) in their surrounding culture. See also guided participation; zone of proximal development.