Interpersonal Differentiation Factors
On many occasions, psychology studies basic cognitive processes, which with certain nuances, occur in all human beings in a similar way. Thus, we can say that in these cases, psychology seeks the link between individuals with the aim of having a generic vision of man.
However, there are certain cognitive processes that cause interpersonal differentiation, such as personality. The discipline that is responsible for studying these factors is the psychology of individual differences or differential psychology.
The psychology of individual differences is a scientific discipline that tries to respond to the fact that we human beings are very similar to each other, but at the same time we are very different. That is, its objective is to explain the processes and factors that underlie interpersonal differentiation. In fact, if we did not investigate about it, we would have enough problems when it comes to explaining human behavior. This is because these factors greatly modulate behavior and cognition. Studying differences helps us to understand the causes of differences and to see the superior processes behind them.
According to the different studies carried out, the two factors of interpersonal differentiation par excellence are personality and intelligence. Depending on the type of personality or the different intellectual qualities, we will observe one behavior or another. However, there are other factors of interpersonal differentiation that we will see below:
- The interests
- Cognitive styles
- The learning styles.
- Person leaving a row
The interests
The interests are a factor of great relevance in the study of interpersonal differentiation. These can be defined as affective inclinations or preferences for certain activities, areas, knowledge or hobbies. With certain nuances, the interests will predict in some way the direction and the perceived pleasantness of the behavior.
The interests have three key characteristics:
- They are directive or conative. That is, they move the person to act in a certain direction.
- They have a certain degree of intensity. This is indicated by the energy that the individual devotes to a behavior, as well as by the affective reaction and activation that derives from it.
- They are dynamic. They appear, change, strengthen or lose strength through the continuous interaction of the individual with the environment.
The study of interests has a strong impact on the psychology of education. This is because knowing the interests of the students helps to make the instruction interesting and to improve the educational quality to a great extent. In addition, their study is useful to understand why children show different patterns of interests and different levels of attention in the same subject.
Cognitive styles
This factor of interpersonal differentiation arose from the need to explain the different levels of performance shown by people in different types of tasks. The traditional intelligence tests hardly explained the individual variability when facing different tasks. There was also an attempt to explain through personality, but it was seen as insufficient. Therefore, the construct of cognitive styles was created.
Cognitive style refers to the usual way of processing information and using mental resources, such as perception, memory, or learning. In summary, it represents the habitual pattern with which the individual faces a task or a problem. The different cognitive styles result in a person being more efficient in certain types of tasks compared to others.
Below are examples of different dimensions that we can find with respect to cognitive styles. Due to the amplitude thereof, there is no space in this article to define them, but they serve as an introduction to this concept.
- Field dependence versus field independence.
- Leveler versus sharpening.
- Impulsive versus reflective.
- Visualizer versus verbalizer.
- Visual versus haptic.
- Serial versus holistic.
Learning styles
Just as cognitive style is the habitual pattern through which we face a problem, learning style is the usual way we face the task of learning. That is, are those learning strategies and resources that we use when acquiring new knowledge or new behaviors.
These styles are born through a strong interaction between the person and the context. The influence of socialization and natural preferences for one or the other style seem to be the factors that explain the genesis of learning styles.
The psychologist David A. Kolb created a taxonomy of learning styles of great scientific recognition. Is the next:
- Divergent. They are those who adopt many points of view, are good at generating ideas, have broad cultural interests, etc. These are people who are effective in artistic activities or tasks.
- Assimilator. They are people who contemplate a wide range of information, logical, with an interest in ideas and the abstract, and who are not interested in the practical aspects of theories and ideas. They are skilled within scientific disciplines or based on information.
- Convergent. They opt for the practical uses of ideas and theories. They tend to be good at solving technical problems in the face of interpersonal problems and are effective in technological careers.
- Easygoing. They are the ones who handle the information in a practical way. They plan, seek new experiences, and tend to be visceral and good in the field of interpersonal relationships. They are good at action-oriented professions (sales, marketing ...).
As we see, the psychology of individual differences has a lot of knowledge to give us about how we function. In this article you have learned more about three of the factors that most distinguish us from each other. However, this branch of human study is extremely broad and much remains to be discovered.