Individual Difference

Individual differences refer to the reality that human beings are unique and cannot be expected to behave or respond uniformly. When doing research in the field of communication, this means that although a researcher is trying to develop and support a predictive truth about a certain phenomenon, his or her findings will likely be tempered by the reality that what happens will to some extent depend on the characteristics of the individual person involved. Communication research does not necessarily result in universal truths, the way a hard science like chemistry or physics does. Instead, it generates statistical generalizations or predictions of probable outcomes that may vary based on differences across people. These differences can be in one’s personality, abilities, preferences, and interests. There are several ...