What is individual differences? An ever-growing aspect within modern psychology which looks at the uniqueness of individuals Studies the differences between people rather than those things that we all have in common  Assumes behaviour can be largely explained in terms of personality traits, intelligence, normality, ways of thinking and emotional responses.

Assumptions of approach Behaviour can be explained by focusing on the differences between individuals Researchers should focus on dispositional explanations of human behaviour, where behaviour is caused by you as an individual, rather than the situation you are in Every individual is unique

Activity: List four things which are different between you and your neighbour Why do these differences exist? Personality traits? Intelligence?  Normality? Ways of thinking? Emotional responses?

Strengths? + Has developed several psychometric tests to measure differences between individuals in terms of their qualities (e.g. personality and intelligence) + Research is often high in ecological validity as they often take place in real life environments + Provides many useful practical applications to understand people with mental health problems, and therefore treat their abnormality

Weaknesses? – Adopts an idiographic approach and therefore research lacks generalisability – Takes a reductionist approach and ignore situational explanations of human behaviour – Raises ethical issues of labeling people as different or abnormal