From Cronbach to Brunswik: A Conceptual Framework for Personality and Individual Differences Research

Abstract

Recent personality literature has proposed that Cronbach’s generalisability theory offers a substantive ground for the integration of inter-individual differences and intra¬personal process approaches to personality trait research. Generalisability theory has the advantage of maximising psychometric dependability of behavioural measurements, but does not demand reconciliation to the environment that is relevant to the life circumstances of the participant. A conceptual analysis contrasting generalisability theory with Egon Brunswik’s conceptual framework for psychology is presented. Recommendations regarding the connection between theory and methodological practice follow, in light of an evolutionary approach to personality and individual differences. An example that highlights the contrast between Cronbachian and Brunswikian approaches is presented, resulting in a recommendation to revisit the concept of ecological validity and representational research design, to better account for what is reflected in study outcomes for personality constructs.