Question

In regards to psychology, what is the difference in subjective and objective?

Answer 1

Subjective is affected by additional factors, usually specific to the individual. Objective is a characteristic with commonly accepted attributes, independent of the individual.

Explanation:

Subjective may be thought of as an opinion, and objective as a fact. The opinion may be well-founded and correct, or not, and a fact may be true or misinformed. However, an objective view is accepted by the local society whereas a subjective view may have may variations or even major differences within a societal group.

For example, the “hardness” of iron and copper is an objective measurement against agreed standards and test methods. Someone saying that an iron plate is harder than an iron bar is making a subjective statement, possibly based on their perception or understanding of the geometric differences.

Saying that “A rose is redder than a tulip” is subjective, as the definitions of which rose or tulip, and the definition of “red” may have considerable variation between different people. Defining color as the visible effect of a particular electromagnetic wavelength (as accepted by the society) makes the statement “Red has a longer wavelength than yellow” objective.