¶ … Individual Differences Approach to Personality: Personality is a term that has largely been considered an unproblematic concept and primarily refers to the varying kinds of characteristics of individuals. Despite this assumption, psychologists have constantly used the word in different ways. The varying views in the use of this concept or term are fueled by the fact that psychology usually makes generalizations regarding individuals. Generally, personality seeks to examine the many differences and similarities between individuals. Formal evaluation and study of personality have mainly focused on patterns of similarities vs. patterns of differences among individuals. When evaluating patterns of differences, the concept of abnormality has emerged and attracted huge concerns among psychologists. Since the issue is controversial, there are concerns whether individual differences in personality can be effectively explained with reference to genes.

Individual Differences Approach to Personality Theory:

As previously mentioned, personality is a concept that primarily focuses on examining the patterns of similarities and patterns of differences among individuals. The view of personality examines individuals comprehensively to look for common dimensions of personal traits in order to make generalizations and comparisons. There are two major approaches used in making these overview and comparisons regarding individual differences i.e. nomothetic and idiographic approaches.

The nomothetic approach is part of a wider tradition of measurement of individual differences. Since nomothetic is a term that means legitimate, the approach of examining individual differences develops theories that are applicable universally to every individual. In addition to being wider, personality research in this approach examines differences in personality based on a series of psychological abilities ranging from intelligence to manual skills (Thomas, n.d., p.293).

Unlike the nomothetic approach, idiographic uses a case study method in order to provide a detailed account of the behaviors, feelings, subjective experiences, and lives of singles individuals. One of the major examples of idiographic approach in examining individual differences is the case study of the psychoanalytic approach as a means of thinking about personality.
The study of individual differences has basically been based on nomothetic personality research despite the focus of this approach on making generalizations and establishing personality structures for every individual. The use of this approach is based on the fact that it does not explore individuality but identifying global dimensions for the entire population of people. The scores of individuals on these dimensions are then used as the basis for differentiation and comparison of people.

Explanation of Personality with Reference to Genes:

The individual differences approach to assessing personality goes beyond personality descriptions in order to determine the causes of differences in personality. One of the ways that the causes of differences are examined in these studies is through the use of biological systems in light of the probable contributions of genetics to personality (Thomas, n.d., 295). In this case, psychologists have attempted to map individual differences in personality according to brain structure or function. These attempts have primarily been based on a simple model of at least two major neural subsystems that are usually described on the basis of biochemistry and/or anatomy. Since such an attempt is a conceptual nervous system, it definitely does not represent the total complexity of biology.

The model requires the subsystems in the brain to be linked with essential behavioral functions like…