Showing papers in "Psychological Bulletin in 1989"

Testing for the equivalence of factor covariance and mean structures: The issue of partial measurement invariance.

Abstract: Addresses issues related to partial measurement in variance using a tutorial approach based on the LISREL confirmatory factor analytic model. Specifically, we demonstrate procedures for (a) using "sensitivity analyses" to establish stable and substantively well-fitting baseline models, (b) determining partially invariant measurement parameters, and (c) testing for the invariance of factor covariance and mean structures, given partial measurement invariance. We also show, explicitly, the transformation of parameters from an all-^fto an all-y model specification, for purposes of testing mean structures. These procedures are illustrated with multidimensional self-concept data from low (« = 248) and high (n = 582) academically tracked high school adolescents. An important assumption in testing for mean differences is that the measurement (Drasgow & Kanfer, 1985; Labouvie, 1980; Rock, Werts, & Haugher, 1978) and the structure (Bejar, 1980; Labouvie, 1980; Rock etal., 1978) of the underlying construct are equivalent across groups. One methodological strategy used in testing for this equivalence is the analysis of covariance structures using the LISREL confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) model (Joreskog, 1971). Although a number of empirical investigations and didactic expositions have used this methodology in testing assumptions of factorial invariance for multiple and single parameters, the analyses have been somewhat incomplete. In particular, researchers have not considered the possibility of partial measurement invariance. The primary purpose of this article is to demonstrate the application of CFA in testing for, and with, partial measurement invariance. Specifically, we illustrate (a) testing, independently, for the invariance of factor loading (i.e., measurement) parameters, (b) testing for the invariance of factor variance-covariance (i.e., structural) parameters, given partially invariant factor loadings, and (c) testing for the invariance of factor mean structures.1 Invariance testing across groups, however, assumes wellfitting single-group models; the problem here is to know when to stop fitting the model. A secondary aim of this article, then, is to demonstrate "sensitivity analyses" that can be used to establish stable and substantively meaningful baseline models.

Evaluation of goodness-of-fit indices for structural equation models

Abstract: Discusses how current goodness-of-fit indices fail to assess parsimony and hence disconfirmability of a model and are insensitive to misspecifications of causal relations (a) among latent variables when measurement model with many indicators is correct and (b) when causal relations corresponding to free parameters expected to be nonzero turn out to be zero or near zero. A discussion of philosophy of parsimony elucidates relations of parsimony to parameter estimation, disconfirmability, and goodness of fit. AGFI in LISREL is rejected. A method of adjusting goodness-of-fit indices by a parsimony ratio is described. Also discusses less biased estimates of goodness of fit and a relative normedfit index for testing fit of structural model exclusive of the measurement model. By a goodness-of-fit index, in structural equations modeling, we mean an index for assessing the fit of a model to data that ranges in possible value between zero and unity, with zero indicating a complete lack of fit and unity indicating perfect fit. Although chi-square statistics are often used as goodness-of-fit indices, they range between zero and infinity, with zero indicating perfect fit and a large number indicating extreme lack of fit. We prefer to call chi-square and other indices with this property lack-of-fit indices. For a recent discussion of both lack-of-fit and goodness-of-fit indices, see Wheaton (I 988). In this article we evaluate the use of goodness-of-fit indices for the assessment of the fit of structural equation models to data. Our aim is to review their rationales and to assess their strengths and weaknesses. We also consider other aspects of the problem of evaluating a structural equation model with goodness-of-fit indices. For example, are certain goodness-of-fit indices to be used only in certain stages of research (a contention of Sobel & Bohrnstedt, 1985)? Or, how biased are estimates of goodness of fit in small samples? What bearing does parsimony have on assessing the goodness of fit of the model? Can goodness-of-fit indices focus on the fit of certain aspects of a model as opposed to the fit of the overall model? For example, to what extent do current goodness-of-fit indices fail to reveal poor fits in the structural submodel among the latent variables because of good fits in the measurement model relating latent variables to manifest indicators? We describe a goodness-of-fit index now

Socioeconomic Status and Obesity: A Review of the Literature

Abstract: A review of 144 published studies of the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and obesity reveals a strong inverse relationship among women in developed societies. The relationship is inconsistent for men and children in developed societies. In developing societies, however, a strong direct relationship exists between SES and obesity among men, women, and children. A review of social attitudes toward obesity and thinness reveals values congruent with the distribution of obesity by SES in different societies. Several variables may mediate the influence of attitudes toward obesity and thinness among women in developed societies that result in the inverse relationship between SES and obesity. They include dietary restraint, physical activity, social mobility, and inheritance.

Frustration-aggression hypothesis: examination and reformulation.

Abstract: Examines the Dollard et al. (1939) frustration-aggression hypothesis. The original formulation's main proposition is limited to interference with an expected attainment of a desired goal on hostile (emotional) aggression. Although some studies have yielded negative results, others support the core proposition. Frustrations can create aggressive inclinations even when they are not arbitrary or aimed at the subject personally. Interpretations and attributions can be understood partly in terms of the original analysis but they can also influence the unpleasantness of the thwarting. A proposed revision of the 1939 model holds that frustrations generate aggressive inclinations to the degree that they arouse negative affect. Evidence regarding the aggressive consequences of aversive events is reviewed, and Berkowitz's cognitive-neoassociationistic model is summarized. In 1939, researchers at the Yale University Institute of Human Relations published a small monograph that has had a tremendous impact, directly or indirectly, on almost all of the behavioral sciences. Led by,John Dollard, Leonard Doob, Neal Miller, O. H. Mowrer, and Robert Sears (1939), the group attempted to account for virtually all of human aggression with a few basic ideas. Their book, Frustration and Aggression, quickly attracted considerable attention. Seven articles in one 1941 issue of Psychological Review were devoted to the controversy generated by the monograph, and excerpts from these papers as well as from other related articles were reprinted in a major section of the classic Readings in Social Psychology (Newcomb & Hartley, 1947). Most of the studies investigating the causes and consequences of aggression in the immediately following decades were oriented, to some extent at least, toward issues raised by the Yale group's analysis (see Berkowitz, 1958, 1962; Buss, 1961).

Exposure and affect: Overview and meta-analysis of research 1968-1987

Abstract: L'auteur analyse les effets de variables methodologiques (type et complexite du stimulus, intervalle de presentation, temps d'exposition) et de variables subjectives (âge d'exposition, personnalite) sur la sensibilite du sujet aux stimulus de toutes sortes. Il conclut sur l'interet methodologique de sa recherche, ainsi que sur ses apports pratiques (publicite, traitement de la phobie)

Theory and Research Concerning Social Comparisons of Personal Attributes

Abstract: Social comparison theory has evolved considerably since Festinger (1954) originally proposed it. This article integrates these changes with insights offered by recent social comparison studies and by research on social cognition and the self. Contrary to the original theory or subsequent research, (a) the individual is not always an unbiased self-evaluator but may seek many goals through social comparison; (b) the social environment may not be inactive but may impose unwanted comparisons; and (c) the comparison process involves more than selecting a comparison target: It is bidirectional, rather than unidirectional, and it may adopt a variety of forms to meet the individual's goals. Research involving comparisons of personal attributes illustrates these principles. The couples we knew were also aging.., and paid rising taxes and suffered automobile accidents and midnight illnesses and marital woe; but under the tireless supervision of gossip all misfortunes were compared, and confessed, and revealed as relative. (Updike, 1985, p. 48) Salieri, speaking of Mozart, in Amadeus: Tonight... stands a giggling child who can put on paper, without actually setting down his billiard cue, casual notes which turn my most considered ones into lifeless scratches... [That] ensured that I would know myself forever mediocre. (Shatfer, 1980, p. 61) An important source of knowledge about oneself is comparisons with other people. In 1954, Festinger proposed a theory of social comparison based on this insight. Although interest in the theory has waxed and waned since then (Goethals, 1986b), social comparison research has enjoyed a resurgence recently: Over 100 journal articles on social comparison have appeared since 1982, which is almost three times the number published in the theory's first 12 years (Radloff& Bard, 1966). Moreover, social comparison processes are central to other prominent theories in social psychology, including relative deprivation (Masters & Smith, 1987; Olson, Herman. & Zanna, 1986), Tesser's self-evaluation maintenance model (Tenet, 1986), and Tajfel and Turner's (1979) social identity theory of groups. Although social comparison theory was once dubbed "everybody's second-favorite theory in social psychology (but almost nobody's first)" (Arrowood, 1978, p. 491 ), the literature has never before had more vitality. These developments call for a reexamination of social comparison theory. For some time, researchers have operated under an understanding of social comparison that goes beyond Festinger's (1954) original theory and that in some ways contradicts

Negativity and extremity biases in impression formation: A review of explanations.

Abstract: Mise au point sur les explications de certains biais lies aux recherches sur la formation des impressions, et presentation d'un modele fonde sur des indices de categorisation du stimulus pour rendre compte de tels biais

The unicorn, the normal curve, and other improbable creatures.

Abstract: An investigation of the distributional characteristics of 440 large-sample achievement and psychometric measures found all to be significantly nonnormal at the alpha .01 significance level. Several classes of contamination were found, including tail weights from the uniform to the double exponential, exponential-level asymmetry, severe digit preferences, multimodalities, and modes external to the mean/median interval. Thus, the underlying tenets of normality-assuming statistics appear fallacious for these commonly used types of data. However, findings here also fail to support the types of distributions used in most prior robustness research suggesting the failure of such statistics under nonnormal conditions. A reevaluation of the statistical robustness literature appears appropriate in light of these findings.

Does violence beget violence? A critical examination of the literature.

Abstract: Critically examines the "violence breeds violence" hypothesis broadly defined. Organized into seven sections, the literature review includes (a) the abuse breeds abuse hypothesis; (b) reports of small numbers of violent/homicidal offenders; (c) studies examining the relationship of abuse and neglect to delinquency, (d) to violent behavior, and (e) to aggressive behavior in infants and young children; (f) abuse, withdrawal, and self-destructive behavior; and (g) studies of the impact of witnessing or observing violent behavior. A detailed discussion of methodological considerations and shortcomings precedes the review. The author concludes that existing knowledge of the long-term consequences of abusive home environments is limited and suggests that conclusions about the strength of the cycle of violence be tempered by the dearth of convincing empirical evidence. Recommendations are made for further research.

Multivariate analysis versus multiple univariate analyses.

Abstract: The argument for preceding multiple analysis of variance (ANOVAS) with a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to control for Type I error is challenged. Several situations are discussed in which multiple ANOVAS might be conducted without the necessity of a preliminary MANOVA. Three reasons for considering a multivariate analysis are discussed: to identify outcome variable system constructs, to select variable subsets, and to determine variable relative worth. The analyses discussed in this article are those appropriate in research situations in which analysis of variance techniques are useful. These analyses are used to study the effects of treatment variables on outcome/response variables (in ex post facto as well as experimental studies). We speak of an univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) when a single outcome variable is involved; when multiple outcome variables are involved, it is a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). (Covariance analyses may also be included.) With multiple outcome variables, the typical analysis approach used in the group-comparison context, at least in the behavioral sciences, is to either (a) conduct multiple ANOVAs or (b) conduct a MANOVA followed by multiple ANOVAS. That these are two popular choices may be concluded from a survey of some prominent behavioral science journals. The 1986 issues

Effects of involvement on persuasion: a meta-analysis

Abstract: Defines involvement as a motivational state induced by an association between an activated attitude and the self-concept. Integration of the available research su~ests that the effects of involvement on attitude change depended on the aspect of message recipients' self-concept that was activated to create involvement: (a) their enduring values (value-relevant involvement), (b) their ability to attain desirable outcomes (outcome-relevant involvement), or (e) the impression they make on others (impression-relevant involvement). Findings showed that (a) with value-relevant involvement, high-involvement subjects were less persuaded than low-involvement subjects; (b) with outcome-relevant involvement, high-involvement subjects were more persuaded than low-involvement subjects by strong arguments and (somewhat inconsistently) less persuaded by weak arguments; and (c) with impression-relevant involvement, high-involvement subjects were slightly less persuaded than lowinvolvement subjects. To understand the conditions under which people are persuaded by others, researchers have often invoked the concept of involvement. Although this construct was popular prior to M. Sherifand Cantril's (1947) work (see A. G. Greenwald's, 1982, review), their proposal that highly involving attitudes be regarded as components of the self-concept or ego was seminal to theory about involvement's impact on attitude change. According to M. Sherif and Cantril (1947), such attitudes "have the characteristic of belonging to me, as being part of me, as psychologically experienced" (p. 93). M. Sherif, C. W. Sherif, and their colleagues developed the implications of involvement (which they often called "ego involvement") for persuasion by giving it a major role in their social judgment-involvement approach, a theory of attitude change developed in the 1950s and early 1960s (Hovland, Harvey, & Sherif, 1957; C. W. Sherif, Sherif, & Nebergall, 1965; M. Sherif & Hovland, 1961). During this same period, Zimbardo (1960) introduced the concept of response involvement in order to predict attitude change in a social influence setting. In more

Do studies of statistical power have an effect on the power of studies

Abstract: The long-term impact of studies of statistical power is investigated using J. Cohen's (1962) pioneering work as an example. We argue that the impact is nil; the power of studies in the same journal that Cohen reviewed (now the Journal of Abnormal Psychology) has not increased over the past 24 years. In 1960 the median power (i.e., the probability that a significant result will be obtained if there is a true effect) was .46 for a medium size effect, whereas in 1984 it was only .37. The decline of power is a result of alpha-adjusted procedures. Low power seems to go unnoticed: only 2 out of 64 experiments mentioned power, and it was never estimated. Nonsignificance was generally interpreted as confirmation of the null hypothesis (if this was the research hypothesis), although the median power was as low as .25 in these cases. We discuss reasons for the ongoing neglect of power.

Gender and power in organizations: A longitudinal perspective.

Abstract: Presentation d'un modele permettant d'organiser un bilan des recherches empiriques concernant les differences selon le sexe dans le pouvoir au sein des organisations

Sex offender recidivism: A review.

Abstract: The increasing recognition of the large number of people victimized by sexual assault has focused considerable attention on methods for deterring its perpetrators. In particular, law enforcement and mental health professions alike seek ways to prevent sex offenders from repeating their criminal behavior. Some evidence suggests sex offenders often continue offending even after incarceration or clinical treatment. However, recidivism rates for sex offenders are unusually hard to establish, owing to gross underreporting of sex crimes. This article presents a comprehensive review of empirical studies of sex offender recidivism. It brings together data from a wide variety of studies on both treated and untreated sex offenders of all types. Because of the variety and gravity of methodological problems in these studies, guidelines are discussed for sample selection and description, study design, criterion assessment, and data analysis. With these methodological principles in mind, the results of some 42 studies are examined for what they can tell us about sex offender recidivism and efforts to reduce it.

Effects of personal experience on self-protective behavior

Abstract: This article seeks to further our understanding of self-protective behavior by examining the effects of a particularly powerful stimulus to action: personal experience. It reviews the effects of automobile accidents on seat belt use, criminal victimization other than rape on individual crime prevention efforts, natural hazards experience on both natural hazards preparedness and compliance with evacuation warnings, and myocardial infarction on smoking. Theories suggesting mechanisms that could link personal experience to behavior are described, and data concerning the effects of experience on some key variables in these theories are discussed. Tentative propositions are offered to resolve the many apparent discrepancies in this literature. These propositions concern the effects of experience on risk perceptions, the influence of experience on risk salience, the specificity of responses to victimization, and the duration of experience effects.

Analysis of correlation matrices using covariance structure models.

Abstract: It is often assumed that covariance structure models can be arbitrarily applied to sample correlation matrices as readily as to sample covariance matrices. Although this is true in many cases and leads to an analysis that is mostly correct, it is not permissible for all structures. This article reviews three interrelated problems associated with the analysis of structural models using a matrix of sample correlations. Depending upon the model, applying a covariance structure to a matrix of correlations may (a) modify the model being studied, (b) produce incorrect values of the omnibus test statistic, or (c) yield incorrect standard errors. An important class of models are those that are scale invariant (Browne, 1982), for then Errors a and b cannot occur when a correlation matrix is analyzed. A number of examples based on restricted factor analysis are presented to illustrate the concepts described in the article.

Smoking, body weight, and their effects on smoking behavior: a comprehensive review of the literature

Abstract: This article provides a comprehensive review of the research on smoking and body weight. The relationships between smoking and body weight are evaluated in 70 cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations. The mechanisms responsible for differences in body weight are discussed, the weight-related issues that promote smoking behavior are reviewed, methods for reducing postcessation weight gain are summarized, and future research directions are proposed. A proposed working research model for studying the relationship between smoking, energy balance, and weight gain is offered. It is concluded that smoking and body weight relationships are closely related and pose significant challenges for smoking researchers.

Effects of cognitive feedback on performance.

Abstract: Revue de la litterature portant sur les travaux empiriques qui tentent de montrer que le feedback cognitif ameliore la performance, notamment lors de tâches de jugement. Les auteurs essaient de determiner l'aspect critique du feedback cognitif responsable de cet effet. Etude des facteurs influencant le feedback cognitif

Parental attitudes toward child rearing: Instruments, issues, and implications.

Abstract: Describes historical use of surveys to assess parents' global child-rearing attitudes and reviews the structure and content of the 83 parent attitude questionnaires published from 1899 through 1986 designed to quantify variations in parental attitudes and, presumably, parental behavior. Inspection of the surveys' psychometric properties reveals marginally acceptable levels of reliability and questionable validity. One suspected source of problems with the instruments, the use of vague and ambiguous items, was confirmed in a study of mothers' reactions to one survey. In addition to instrument errors, conceptual problems associated with assumptions about the structure of parental attitudes and how attitudes relate to parental behavior are discussed. Alternative methods for assessing parental social cognitions and individual differences in parents are advocated. One of the oldest and most important questions in psychology concerns the role the environment plays in the development of an individual. At least in the opening scenes of ontogeny, parents are generally recognized to be the protagonists and the family to be the "primary arena" for socialization (Maccoby, 1984). Parents have frequently been implicated as principal causal agents in their children's behavioral, emotional, personality, and cognitive development. This influence is achieved through a variety of active and passive, reactive and nonreactive processes (Baumrind, 1980; Radke-Yarrow & Zahn-Waxler, 1986; Scarr

In search of the Seven Dwarves: issues of measurement and meaning in alcohol expectancy research

Abstract: Discusses substantive issues in predicting drinking patterns from expectancies, as well as issues of content and measurement of the scales developed to measure these expectancies. In recent years, much research has suggested that alcohol expectancies--or the beliefs that individuals hold about the effects of alcohol on their behavior, moods, and emotions--are an important factor in motivating drinking behavior. Although measures of these expectancies have consistently been shown to be correlated with measures of alcohol use, conceptual and methodological problems remain to be addressed. In order to progress in understanding this potentially important psychosocial factor in abusive and nonabusive drinking, alcohol expectancy research, which has been atheoretical in nature, should attend to potential contributions from other areas of research in psychology.

The Psychology of Being "Right": The Problem of Accuracy in Social Perception and Cognition

Abstract: Several difficulties are noted with general questions psychologists have been asking about human accuracy, such as whether people are typically accurate or inaccurate, what the boundary conditions for accuracy are, or the general process whereby accuracy may be improved. Instead, a situationally specific approach to accuracy is adopted in which a central role is assigned to the judgmental process. Accordingly, two general paradigms are distinguished addressing accuracy from realistic and phenomenal perspectives. The realist paradigm focuses on subjects' judgments and the degree to which these correspond to an external criterion. The phenomenal paradigm focuses on subjects' internal criterion as well as their perceptions of the target judgment and the judgment-to-criterion correspondence. Research possibilities in each paradigm are noted. It is suggested that attention to judgmental factors may extend accuracy work in previously unexplored directions.

Temperature and aggression: Ubiquitous effects of heat on occurrence of human violence.

Abstract: Outlines 5 models of the temperature-aggression hypothesis: negative affect escape, simple negative affect, excitation transfer/misattribution, cognitive neoassociation, and physiological-thermoregulatory. Reviews relevant studies. Aggression measures include violent crime, spouse abuse, horn-honking, and delivery of electric shock. Analysis levels include geographic regional, seasonal, monthly, and daily variations in aggression, and concomitant temperature-aggression effects in field and laboratory settings. Field studies clearly show that heat increases aggression. Laboratory studies show inconsistencies, possibly because of several artifacts. Specific models have not been adequately tested, but the excitation transfer/misattribution and cognitive neoassociation approaches appear most promising, whereas the negative affect escape appears the least viable. Suggestions for future work are made.

Semantic memory in Alzheimer's disease.

Abstract: Patients with Alzheimer's disease have been suggested to have a semantic memory impairment not present in the normal old. This article reviews the performance of Alzheimer patients on tests of various aspects of semantic memory, including word finding, knowledge of the semantic attributes, and associates of concepts, as well as their category membership. The effect that semantic context has on cognitive processes such as lexical and semantic priming and memory encoding is also reviewed. Finally, the ability of theoretical constructs such as implicit memory and automaticity to explain intertask variability in Alzheimer patients' semantic performance is discussed.

Sex Differences in Positive Well-Being: A Consideration of Emotional Style and Marital Status

Abstract: This article reviews all published studies reporting tests for sex differences in well-being. Women were found to report greater happiness and life satisfaction than men. This sex difference was explained in terms of men's and women's social roles: The female (vs. male) gender role specifies greater emotional responsiveness. Furthermore, past role-related experiences provide women with appropriate skills and attitudes. Women's (vs. men's) greater well-being was also found to hold for married but not unmarried Ss: For both sexes the married state (vs. unmarried) was associated with favorable well-being, but the favorable outcomes proved stronger for women than men. Given that most Ss were married, the overall sex difference in well-being can be attributed to Ss' marital status. These findings were discussed in the context of prior research on sex differences in negative well-being. Research on subjective social indicators has demonstrated that one's objective life circumstances do not necessarily correspond to one's personal experience of well-being. The fact, then, that men and women in our society differ in terms of a variety of biological, personality, and situational factors may or may not result in sex differences in subjective quality of life. This article examines whether men and women do differ in evaluations of their life as a whole. The inquiry is limited to consideration of data on positive welbbeing and excludes findings on negative affect and psychological symptomatology. This is because positive and negative affect appem; under some circumstances, to be uncorrelated (Diener, Larson, Levine, & Emmons, 1985; Wart, Barter, & Brownbridge, 1983). I Reports of positive wen-being are best interpreted as indicators of positive domains of experience, separate from negative aspects of one's life circumstances. Prior research on sex differences in subjective life quality has focused almost exclusively on negative affect and psychological symptomatology. Consequently, most theories in this area are tailored to explain the occurrence of men's and women's poor well-being. This work, and the data on which it is based, is presented as a frame of reference for interpreting sex differences in positive well-being. First, we consider what is represented by judgments of wellbeing. Philosophers and psychologists have debated this question at length (see, e.g., Diener's, 1984, impressive review of the

Sensitive periods in development: structural characteristics and causal interpretations.

Abstract: The presence or absence of a particular experience at a particular time in the life cycle may exert an extraordinary and dramatic influence over structure or function well beyond that point in development Such sensitive periods are thought to be widespread in animal and in human neurobiology and psychology A comprehensive treatment of the sensitive period needs minimally to include information about its structural characteristics as well as an interpretation of its causes, including why the sensitive period arises in terms of the natural history of the species and how the sensitive period is regulated in terms of physical, physiological, and psychological processes This article provides a framework for research and theory concerning specific sensitive periods and the sensitive period generally conceived The framework delimits four sets of parameters, which encompass 14 structural characteristics that define sensitive periods, and two levels of causal interpretation that guide research and theory into sensitive periods however they may be manifested

Joan McKay versus John McKay: Do gender stereotypes bias evaluations?

Abstract: Etude meta-analytique des recherches ayant utilise le paradigme experimental de Goldberg (1968), dans le but d'un examen critique des conclusions sur l'evaluation plus favorable, chez les femmes, des auteurs de sexe masculin