Are Higher-Order Constructs in Evolutionary Psychology Attributable to Omitted Cross-Loading Bias? An Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling Approach.

ABSTRACT: Global constructs such as the general factor of personality (GFP), trait emotional intelligence (TEI), and the K-factor have generated considerable interest as well as controversy in evolutionary psychology. Research employing exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) suggests higher-order factors may be attributable to the omission of cross-loadings from confirmatory factor models and scale score computation, which can upwardly bias first-order factor and scale score correlations. In the current project, we conducted two studies to determine if GFP and TEI are method artifacts using national random-digit-dialing (n = 1,805) and teacher (n = 331) samples, respectively. We also conducted a study examining the possibility that K is an artifact using a sample of college students (n = 66

SUBMITTER: Richardson GB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12417301 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature