Confirmatory Multidimensional Scaling Research Articles

Athlete's Personal Values and the Likelihood of Alcohol Use and Heavy Drinking during Adolescence.

Sport is considered an exceptional activity for promoting healthy lifestyles, but the relationship between sport and alcohol consumption is inconclusive. Research on personal values may shed light on this issue and thus make it possible to find effective ways to prevent alcohol misuse in adolescents. The main objectives of this study were to explore the relationships between personal values and alcohol consumption amongst adolescent athletes and to validate the Portrait Values Questionnaire-21 (PVQ-21) in this population. A total of 914 athletes (aged 11-19; 55.4% female) participated in this study. Confirmatory multidimensional scaling analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed. Logistic regression models were fitted to assess the predictive power of personal values on alcohol use. Openness to change values positively predicted high-frequency alcohol use and high-frequency heavy episodic drinking, whereas the opposite occured with athletes who held conservation values. Furthermore, the probability of presenting heavy episodic drinking was negatively associated with conservation values. Finally, the PVQ-21 presented adequate psychometric properties to assess personal values among adolescent athletes. It is crucial to consider the personal values of adolescent athletes when promoting healthy lifestyles through sport.

Validity of Holland’s theory in adolescence: evidence from a Slovak sample

The underlying calculus assumption of Holland’s theory was tested in two samples of primary school students (N1 = 400 and N2 = 250) with an average age of 13.86 and 14.14 years, respectively. Both exploratory and confirmatory multidimensional scaling and Hubert and Arabie’s randomization test of hypothesized order relations were calculated. The circular spatial arrangement of RIASEC types was not confirmed in either of the two samples. The study discusses possible causes of the inappropriateness of using Holland’s model in an adolescent sample.

Testing functional theory of life values with students living in residential care institutions

The Functional Theory of Life Values can constitute a useful theoretical basis for evaluating and promoting the psychosocial development of young people. This study aimed to analyze the adequacy of this theory with students living in residential care institutions. We tested two main hypotheses: a content hypothesis, using a six-dimensional values model (excitement, promotion, existence, supra-personal, interactive, normative), and a structure hypothesis, which represents values in two space dimensions (type of orientation guiding actions goals; and type of motivator expressing needs). Participants included 230 Portuguese youths, 121 boys (52.6%) and 109 girls (47.4%) aged 12 to 25 years old (M = 16.1, SD = 2.03). A demographic questionnaire and the Basic Values Survey were completed. Confirmatory factor analysis and confirmatory multidimensional scaling were used to test the content and structure hypotheses. The results support both hypotheses and provide empirical support to the theory with this population.

A Teoria de Valores Refinada: associações com comportamento e evidências de validade discriminante e preditiva

Resumo: A teoria refinada dos 19 valores humanos básicos foi apresentada em 2012. Sua utilidade e validade discriminantes foram demonstradas em associações com atitudes e crenças, mas não comportamentos, apresentando um instrumento para medir os 19 valores em diferentes países, mas não no Brasil. Dois estudos, com três amostras brasileiras independentes, apresentam tal instrumento e investigam a validade discriminante e preditiva da teoria pelo exame das associações de cada valor com comportamentos cotidianos. Um MDS confirmatório ordenou os valores no contínuo motivacional previsto pela teoria. Análises fatoriais confirmatórias dão suporte para a validade discriminante e preditiva da teoria. Os resultados sugerem que as compatibilidades e conflitos que estruturam a relação entre os valores também organizam os comportamentos que os expressam.

Confrontando estruturas de valores: um estudo comparativo entre PVQ-40 e PVQ-21

Esforcos tem sido realizados para desenvolver escalas de mensuracao capazes de traduzir o constructo e a estrutura de valores. Entre as existentes estao as escalas SVS - Schwartz Value Survey e o Portrait Values Questionnaire com 40 e 21 itens (respectivamente PVQ-40 e PVQ-21). As duas formas desse ultimo questionario apresentam aplicabilidade mais ampla, por possuirem uma menor quantidade de itens e terem os itens redigidos de forma menos abstrata do que a SVS. Nao foram encontrados, no entanto, estudos que comparem as duas escalas quanto a estrutura de valores obtida a partir de sua aplicacao, objetivo a que este estudo se propos a alcancar. A pesquisa foi realizada com uma amostra de 217 estudantes universitarios, aos quais foram aplicadas as escalas PVQ-40 e PVQ-21, em dois momentos distintos. Os dados foram tratados mediante Analise de Escalonamento Multidimensional Confirmatoria Fraca. Os resultados indicaram que ambas as escalas sao equivalentes quanto a estrutura de valores bidimensional e bipolar, porem foram encontradas divergencias entre ambas quanto a distribuicao no espaco dos valores dos tipos Estimulacao, Autodeterminacao, Poder e Realizacao.

Values and behavior: Validating the refined value theory in Russia

AbstractResearchers recently introduced a refined theory of 19 basic human values. They demonstrated its utility and discriminant validity through associations with attitudes and beliefs, but not with behaviors. We assess the discriminant and predictive validity of the theory by examining associations of each value with everyday behaviors in a Russian sample. Two hundred sixty‐six respondents reported their values and the frequency with which they performed each of the 85 everyday behaviors during the past year. We derived indexes of 19 latent value factors and of 19 latent behavior factors using confirmatory factor analysis. A confirmatory multidimensional scaling analysis arrayed the values, excepting benevolence, on the circular motivational continuum of the theory. Structural equation modeling analyses supported the discriminant and predictive validity of the theory. Of the 19 values, 18 correlated more positively with the behavior chosen a priori as likely to express it than with any other behavior, and all values correlated negatively with behaviors chosen to express motivationally opposed values. The patterns of correlation between the values and behaviors approximated the sinusoid curve implied by the motivational continuum of values in almost all cases. The study suggests that the same motivational compatibilities and conflicts that structure value relations largely organize relations among value‐expressive behaviors. The study examines moderation of value–behavior relations by gender and tests the normative pressure explanation of variation in the strength of value–behavior relations across value domains. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Studying children's early literacy development: Confirmatory multidimensional scaling growth modeling

There has been considerable debate over the ways in which children's early literacy skills develop over time. Using confirmatory multidimensional scaling (MDS) growth analysis, this paper directly tested the hypothesis of a cumulative trajectory versus a compensatory trajectory of development in early literacy skills among a group of 1233 kindergarteners over a three-year period. Based on age-sensitive subscales of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), the finding supported the hypothesis of compensatory trajectory of development in early literacy skills. The results indicated a slower growth rate for children who had a higher initial score than those who had a lower initial score so that those who started at a lower point caught up by the end of the second grade. In addition, reading achievement at the end of the second grade did not show a statistically significant difference between these two groups of children. We discussed some substantively important questions in light of the theoretical articulations of constrained skills proposed by Paris (2005). The study also illustrated confirmatory MDS growth analysis as a viable alternative for theory testing.

School Counselor Supervisors' Perceptions of the Discrimination Model of Supervision

The authors examined 38 school counselor supervisors' perceptions of the Discrimination Model (DM; Bernard, 1979, 1997) of supervision, replicating and extending Ellis and Dell's (1986) investigation of the DM with mental health counselor supervisors. Participants judged the dissimilarity of each unique combination of roles and foci of the DM. The authors conducted a confirmatory multidimensional scaling analysis to compare the implicit dimensions and constructs that school counselor and mental health counselor supervisors used to make decisions. Results suggested partial similarities in the conceptual maps of school counselor and mental health counselor supervisors. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Do functional traits improve prediction of predation rates for a disparate group of aphid predators?

Aphid predators are a systematically disparate group of arthropods united on the basis that they consume aphids as part of their diet. In Europe, this group includes Araneae, Opiliones, Heteroptera, chrysopids, Forficulina, syrphid larvae, carabids, staphylinids, cantharids and coccinellids. This functional group has no phylogenetic meaning but was created by ecologists as a way of understanding predation, particularly for conservation biological control. We investigated whether trait-based approaches could bring some cohesion and structure to this predator group. A taxonomic hierarchy-based null model was created from taxonomic distances in which a simple multiplicative relationship described the Linnaean hierarchies (species, genera, etc.) of fifty common aphid predators. Using the same fifty species, a functional groups model was developed using ten behavioural traits (e.g. polyphagy, dispersal, activity, etc.) to describe the way in which aphids were predated in the field. The interrelationships between species were then expressed as dissimilarities within each model and separately analysed using PROXSCAL, a multidimensional scaling (MDS) program. When ordinated using PROXSCAL and then statistically compared using Procrustes analysis, we found that only 17% of information was shared between the two configurations. Polyphagy across kingdoms (i.e. predatory behaviour across animal, plant and fungi kingdoms) and the ability to withstand starvation over days, weeks and months were particularly divisive within the functional groups model. Confirmatory MDS indicated poor prediction of aphid predation rates by the configurations derived from either model. The counterintuitive conclusion was that the inclusion of functional traits, pertinent to the way in which predators fed on aphids, did not lead to a large improvement in the prediction of predation rate when compared to the standard taxonomic approach.

The underlying structure of the Beck Depression Inventory II: A multidimensional scaling approach

The purpose of the present study was to confirm Beck’s six symptom categorization of depression through the most recent version of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) by employing a confirmatory multidimensional scaling (MDS). This analysis indicates two independent dimensions in the BDI-II. The disturbance domain dimension relates to the domains wherein the disturbances occur, and validates Beck’s six symptom categorization dividing the items into disturbances in basic need-satisfaction, energy regulation, focused attention, regulation of emotion, motivation, and cognitive distortion in self-evaluation. The level of arousal dimension relates to how the disturbances are expressed, namely in an under-active, regular, or over-active manifestation. The MDS solution suggests 18 (6 × 3) symptom areas of depression, and may serve as a guide for constructing additional items.

Modeling Distance Structures in Consumer Research: Scale Versus Order in Validity Assessment

Confirmatory multidimensional scaling (CMOS) is presented as a spatial technique for structural modeling based on ordinal assumptions, and as an alternative to metric techniques such as LISREL. The article links both techniques to the multitrait-multimethod matrix and presents a system for deriving measures of symmetric construct relationships, measurement error, and goodness of fit. Examples show that CMDS and LISREL often give comparable results, but that LISREL is sensitive to the magnitude of correlations whereas CMDS is sensitive only to their order. The trade-offs involved in assumptions, results, and interpretations with these methods are highlighted in the conclusion.

Constrained Multidimensional Scaling, Including Confirmation

Constrained and confirmatory multidimensional scaling (MDS) are not equivalent. Constraints refer to the translation of either theoretical or data analytical objectives into computational specifications. Confirma tion refers to a study of the balance between system atic and random variation in the data for modeling of the systematic part. Among the topics discussed from this perspective are the role of substantive theory in MDS studies, the type of constraints currently envis aged, and the relationships with other data analysis methods. This paper points out the possibility of using either sampling models or resampling schemes to study the stability of MDS solutions. Parallel to Akaike's (1974) information criterion for choosing one out of many models for the same data, a general sta bility criterion is proposed and illustrated, based on the ratio of within to total spread of configurations is sued from resampling.

Perceived dimensions of attributions for loneliness.

This study examined the applicability of Weiner's model of causal attributions to lay explanations for the causes of loneliness. Weiner posits three dimensions (Internatily, Stability, and controllability) along which causes vary and links each dimension to distinct consequences for the actor. To test the salience of these dimensions in lay perceptions of causality, 180 college students made judgments about the causes of loneliness. As predicted, both exploratory and confirmatory multidimensional scaling analyses found that dimensions of Internality and Stability were perceived by respondents. Contrary to recent theorizing, Controllability was not independent of the other two dimensions; instead, controllable causes were both internal and unstable. Confirmation of Internality and Stability as dimensions underlying attributions for loneliness supported the extension of Weiner's model to the domain of affiliative behavior.