7 | Individual Differences and Similarities
Anna Sofia Caruso and Alison Heinhold Melley
Key Theme: Psychology explains general principles that govern behavior while recognizing individual differences.
Here, we’re talking about individual differences and general patterns of behavior. Remember:
Psychology deals with probability, not certainty.
Taking apart the ideas in our key theme, think about the “general principles” as the high probability of what humans will do or what humans are like, based on empirical evidence. Then, the “individual differences” are the ways that people differ from each other and the unlikely (but possible) ways some people differ from those general principles.[1] To determine whether those general principles even exist for any particular trait or behavior, we need many different kinds of research studies with many different kinds of people.
Some examples:
Development: Human babies begin to walk around 12 months old, on average, but the range is from 6 to 18 months – a child who begins to walk at 18 months is not “delayed” any more than a child who walks at 6 months is “advanced.” The “general principle” is the average age for walking, the individual difference is the wide range of ages at which this develops. It is less likely but very possible that a healthy developing child does not walk until 19 months.
Cognition: The quick-thinking tools our brains develop to help with making sense of the world (called heuristics) can sometimes lead us to see the world in a biased way. This is a general principle. For example, we are all susceptible to confirmation bias. This happens when we hold a particular belief, we more easily see evidence that *supports* that belief and it is difficult to see evidence that does not support it. So, if I believe someone does not like me, I will see all the things they do that confirm that “truth” – but ignore any action that debunks my belief. The individual differences come in how susceptible people are to this bias, and how much they consciously work against this human tendency to keep their mind open to possibilities. Just believing that something is true does not make it true!
Health: There are individual differences in how we respond to stress. For example, some people automatically take a problem-focused approach (methodical, somewhat detached, looking for solutions) while others take an emotion-focused approach (paying attention to the feelings around the situation). Of course, this does not mean that people always respond in the same way – in fact they may begin with one approach and move onto another as the stressful situation continues.
Understanding Individual Differences in Personality
One way you differ from other people is your unique patterns or dispositions of thought, feeling, and behavior that you bring to each situation. In other words, your personality. The ways we think about, influence, and relate to other people (dispositions) is the focus of study in personality psychology.