Person‐Oriented Methodological Approaches

Abstract

Person‐oriented approaches to social and behavioral developmental sciences proceed from the fact that aggregate‐level descriptions of constancy and change usually fail to represent individuals. Protagonists of the person‐oriented approach (Bergman, Magnusson, von Eye) have, therefore, presented tenets that state that development can be person‐specific and that psychometric instruments must possess dimensional identity to be applicable over time, and to enable researchers to perform comparisons of individuals or groups of individuals. Protagonists of idiographic psychology (Molenaar) have shown that cross‐sectional information can be used as substitute for longitudinal information only under conditions that are atypical of developmental processes. In the first part of this chapter, main lines of the person‐oriented and idiographic research are presented, and compared with differential psychology. In the second part, methods of analysis are discussed that are suitable for person‐oriented research. These methods include, but are not restricted to, hierarchical linear modeling, time series analysis, longitudinal factor analysis, Configural Frequency Analysis ( CFA ), and Item Response Theory ( IRT ). Examples with empirical data are given for CFA and IRT . In the discussion, perspectives of the research planner, the data analyst, and the applied developmental scientist are taken.

Developmental Science in 2025: A Predictive Review

“…As such, longitudinal designs continue to be the key approach to the study of such change (Molenaar & Nesselroade, 2015;von Eye, Bergman, & Hsieh, 2015). However, the problem of selection-of what economists term "endogeneity" (e.g., Heckman, Ichimura, & Todd, 1997)-besets longitudinal studies, given that, even if representative samples are present at the beginning of a longitudinal study, selective attrition will increasingly bias the sample.…”

Relational Developmental Systems‐Based Theories and the Study of Children and Families: Lerner and Spanier (1978) Revisited

“…Moreover, an emphasis on how individuals act in context, the contributions that individuals make to the potentially changeable relations with that context, and other features of the process-relational paradigm foster a core interest in individual agency (or on intentional self-regulation; Gestsdóttir & Lerner, 2008), in which individuals are active producers of their own development (Lerner, 1982;Lerner & Busch-Rossnagel, 1981). This focus is best instantiated by person-centered (as compared to variable-centered) approaches to the study of human development (see von Eye, Bergman, & Hsieh, 2015; see also Amato et al, 2008;Henry, Tolan, & Gorman-Smith, 2005;Rose, Woolley, & Bowen, 2013). Such approaches are focused on the assessment of interindividual differences in intraindividual processes (Nesselroade & Molenaar, 2010).…”

Relational Developmental Systems and Family Research: Considering Qualitative Applications

“…Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory often is considered in a family of RDS-compatible theories, and in the opinion of Tudge et al (2016), techniques such as multiple regression and structural equation modeling can be a fit with the theory. However, at this time, among quantitative techniques, person-oriented approaches (von Eye, Bergman, & Hsieh, 2015) are the most frequently recommended. An example of a person-oriented analysis is Rauer, Petit, Lansford, Bates, and Dodge's (2013) study on the antecedents of romantic relationship patterns among young adults.…”