Premium
Exploring social and personal relationships: The issue of measurement invariance of non‐independent observations
Author(s) -
Tagliabue Semira,
Lanz Margherita
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.2047
Subject(s) - measurement invariance , psychology , equivalence (formal languages) , social psychology , invariant (physics) , construct (python library) , scale (ratio) , construct validity , uniqueness , covariance , scale invariance , factor analysis , romance , confirmatory factor analysis , developmental psychology , econometrics , psychometrics , statistics , mathematics , pure mathematics , structural equation modeling , computer science , physics , quantum mechanics , mathematical physics , programming language , psychoanalysis
In social psychology, some research questions address a comparison of individuals belonging to different social or relational contexts. As measurement invariance literature has indicated, before comparing two or more groups (gender, cultures, and relationship types), the question of whether a measurement of the construct used for the comparison is invariant must be verified. Measurement invariance helps to assure the validity of the measurement and the construct equivalence across groups. However, when non‐independent data are used for comparison (the same individual provides data for his or her different relationship types), the standard multigroup analyses for testing measurement invariance are not accurate. The current study presents a modified correlated uniqueness model that may be applied in these specific cases. As an example, we analyzed the invariance of the Intimate Disclosure scale and the Conflict scale in mother–child, father–child, and romantic relationships of young adults. Results indicate a partial invariance: only configural invariance, factor loading invariance, and factor covariance invariance were found. The consequences for validity of the measurement are then discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.