Nomothetic v Idiographic

• Idiographic approach


  Focuses on individuals and what makes people unique
• Nomothetic approach

  Focuses on studying groups of people in order to formulate general laws/principles of behaviour so people can be compared and measured
• Idiographic approach


  • Uses qualitative research methods
  • Does not seek to generalise to others from research
  • Believes it is irrelevant to try to develop universal laws of behaviour
• Nomothetic approach

  • Uses quantitative research methods
  • Aims to produce general laws/principles of behaviour
  • Provides a 'benchmark' against which people can be compared, classified and measured
  • Allows prediction and/or control of likely behaviour
• Idiographic approach


  • Humanistic Psychology
• Nomothetic approach

  • Biological approach
  • Behaviourist approach
  • Social Learning Theory
• Approaches using both idiographic and nomothetic


  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Psychodynamic Approach
• Idiographic


  Provides a complete and global account of the individual
• There is too much emphasis on measurement and humanistic psychologists believed others had lost sight of what it meant to be human
• Allport's view


  We can only predict what a person will do if we fully understand the individual
• Idiographic approaches


  • Can be useful in providing a complete and better understanding of individuals
• Criticisms of idiographic approach

  • Restrictive
  • Not scientific
  • Conclusions rely on subjective interpretation of the researcher so is open to bias
  • If psychology was a science, must use nomothetic
• Nomothetic

  Allows us to make predictions as patterns of behaviour can be established
• Nomothetic approach

  • Producing drugs to treat mental illness
  • Dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia
• Its too time consuming to personalise therapies for each unique individual and so making predictions on likely successful therapies is better
• Adopting a nomothetic approach is beneficial to work out how to help those with mental illness
• Criticisms of nomothetic approach

  • Preoccupation on general laws and prediction have been criticized to lose the whole person
  • Overlooks the richness of human experience
• The most effective schizophrenia treatment is eclectic therapy where a personal treatment programme is made by the therapist to give the best overall results