Psychology is concerned with both general laws of psychological functioning and with the individual person. The debate surrounding nomothetics and idiographics has been brought up repeatedly, but it has never been completely resolved. We therefore aim to provide conceptual clarity on how the terms “idiographic” and “nomothetic” are used and how conflating these with other concepts negatively impacts research. By differentiating distinct inferential goals and research approaches, we disentangle these confounding concepts. We demonstrate that the nomothetic–idiographic distinction alone is insufficient for categorizing research approaches in personality science. Specifically, we present a categorization of research approaches based on (a) the focal entity (person(s) versus population(s)) and (b) the type of generalization (no vs. entity-specific vs. cross-entity) resulting in a 2 × 3 matrix of research approaches. Finally, we propose a framework of 25 polytomous criteria to extend upon these distinctions. This framework can be mapped onto the generic empirical research process and may help researchers to make decisions in the research process more explicit.

Le Vy Phan

Nick Modersitzki

Niclas Kuper

Nadin Beckmann

Malgosia Fajkowska

Mario Gollwitzer

Kai T Horstmann

Markus Quirin

Karl-Heinz Renner

Aidan G Wright

John F Rauthmann

European Journal of Personality

It is intended that the journal reflects all areas of current personality psychology.    The Journal emphasizes (1) human individuality as manifested in cognitive processes, emotional and motivational functioning, and their physiological and genetic underpinnings, and personal ways of interacting with the environment, (2) individual differences in personality structure and dynamics, (3) studies of intelligence and interindividual differences in cognitive functioning, and (4) development of personality differences as revealed by cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.

The European Journal of Personality aims to reflect all areas of current personality psychology. The journal emphasizes the following aspects: (1) human individuality as manifested in cognitive processes, emotional and motivational functioning, and their physiological and genetic underpinnings, as well as personal ways of interacting with the environment; (2) individual differences in personality structure and dynamics; (3) studies of intelligence and interindividual differences in cognitive functioning; and (4) the development of personality differences as revealed by cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.

《European Journal of Personality》旨在反映当前人格心理学的各个领域。期刊强调以下几个方面：(1) 人类个体性在认知过程、情感和动机功能及其生理和遗传基础中的表现，以及个人与环境互动的方式；(2) 人格结构和动态中的个体差异；(3) 智力和个体间认知功能差异的研究；(4) 通过横断面和纵向研究揭示的人格差异的发展。

Category	Quartile
心理学	1
心理学, 心理学社会	2

Beyond nomothetics and idiographics: Towards a systematization of personality research approaches

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL	1