Abstract

Variable-oriented, sample-based individual differences research strategies and statistical modeling approaches to causal-theoretical inference depend on their logic, coherence, justification, and presumed heuristic value on the tacit assumption that individuals are qualitatively the same, homogeneous with respect to the psychological structures and processes underlying their overt functioning, and that quantitative differences between them are produced by exactly the same psychological structures functioning in exactly the same way within each individual. This psychological homogeneity assumption, however, is demonstrably false and invalidated by a substantial body of uncontested scientific evidence documenting psychological heterogeneity as a ubiquitous, defining characteristic of human functioning. This irreconcilable mismatch between the psychological homogeneity assumption of the paradigm and the psychologically heterogeneous realities of its phenomena renders the individual differences methodology intrinsically incapable of advancing theoretical knowledge about the causes of psychological and behavioral phenomena. A detailed look at this mismatch reveals also that it holds considerable explanatory power as the root cause of the slow theoretical progress and replication failures of psychological research, as well as the driving force behind psychology's inability to relinquish its controversial reliance on null hypothesis significance testing as a justification standard for evaluating theoretical claims.

摘要

面向变量、基于样本的个体差异研究策略和因果理论推断的统计建模方法取决于它们的逻辑、连贯性、正当性和基于默认假设的启发式价值，即个体在心理上是相同的、同质的。它们显性功能背后的结构和过程，并且它们之间的数量差异是由完全相同的心理结构在每个人体内以完全相同的方式运作的。然而，这种心理同质性假设显然是错误的，并且被大量无可争议的科学证据证明是无效的，这些证据证明心理异质性是人类功能无处不在的定义特征。范式的心理同质性假设与其现象的心理异质现实之间的这种不可调和的不匹配使得个体差异方法论本质上无法推进有关心理和行为现象原因的理论知识。对这种不匹配的详细研究还表明，它具有相当大的解释力，这是心理学研究理论进展缓慢和复制失败的根本原因，也是心理学无法放弃其对零假设显着性检验的有争议的依赖的驱动力，如评估理论主张的正当性标准。