3 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 proven fact that human beings We 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 this, we would have quite a few problems when it comes to explaining human behavior. This is because these factors greatly modulate behavior and cognition. Studying the differences helps us understand the causes of them and see the higher processes behind them.

According to the different studies carried out, The two interpersonal differentiation factors 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 interpersonal differentiation factors that we will see below:

Interests. Cognitive styles. Learning styles.

The interests

A factor of great relevance in the study of interpersonal differentiation is interests. We can define these as emotional inclinations or preferences for certain activities, areas, knowledge or hobbies.. With certain nuances, interests will to some extent predict the direction and perceived pleasantness of behavior.

Interests have three key characteristics:

Are from directive or conative character. That is, they move the person to act in a certain direction. They have certain degree of intensity. This is indicated by the energy that the individual dedicates to a behavior, as well as by the affective reaction and activation that is derived 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 educational psychology. This is because knowing students’ interests helps make instruction interesting and improve educational quality to a great extent. Furthermore, its study is useful for us to understand why children show different patterns of interests and different degrees of attention in the same subject.

Cognitive styles

This interpersonal differentiation factor arose from the need to explain the different levels of performance that people show in different types of tasks. Traditional intelligence tests they barely explained the individual variability when faced with different tasks. An attempt was also made to explain it through personality, but it was seen as equally insufficient. Therefore, the construct of cognitive styles was created.

Cognitive style refers to the habitual way of processing information and using mental resources, such as perception, memory, or learning. In short, it represents the usual pattern with which the individual faces a task or problem. 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 regarding cognitive styles. Due to their breadth, there is no space in this article to define them, but they serve as an introduction to this concept.

Field dependence vs. field independence. Leveler vs. sharpener. Impulsive vs. reflective. Visualizer vs. verbalizer. Visual vs. haptic. Serial vs. holistic.

Learning styles

Just as cognitive style is the usual pattern through which we face a problem, The learning style is the usual way with which we approach the task of learning. That is, they 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 style or another seem to be the factors that explain the genesis of learning styles.

Psychologist David A. Kolb created a highly scientifically recognized taxonomy of learning styles. 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 or information-based disciplines.Convergent. They favor the practical uses of ideas and theories. They tend to be good at solving technical problems versus interpersonal problems and are effective in technological careers.Easygoing. They are the ones who handle information in a practical way. They plan, seek new experiences, and tend to be visceral and good at interpersonal relationships. They are good at action-oriented professions (sales, marketing…).

As we see, the psychology of individual differences He has a lot of knowledge to give us about how we work. 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.

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