A Structural Equation Modeling Framework for Incremental Validity

• In Event: Fancy Structural Equation Modeling and Hierarchical Linear Modeling

Abstract

As an important facet of construct validity, incremental validity has been the focus of many applied investigations. Unfortunately, traditional methodological approaches for studying incremental validity, typically rooted in multiple regression, have many limitations. In the current work, a strategy based in structural equation modeling is proposed, which greatly expands researchers’ ability to investigate incremental validity of multiple individual predictors or blocks of predictors all within a single structural model. Four models are presented for different research scenarios, where the predictors of focal interest are: 1) individual measured predictors, 2) individual latent predictors, 3) blocks of measured predictors, and 4) blocks of latent predictors. An illustrative example is presented to demonstrate the application of the proposed modeling strategies in empirical studies.

Authors

• Yi Feng, University of Maryland - College Park

• Gregory R. Hancock, University of Maryland