scholarly journals Hybrid Behavior-Genetic Models of the Confounding Gene-Environment Correlations in the Development of Life History Strategy: Two Convergent Approaches

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Aurelio José Figueredo ◽  
Tomás Cabeza de Baca ◽  
George B Richardson

Traditional theories of development and evolutionary developmental psychology propose that early environmental experiences shape an individual’s developmental trajectory. According to the Adaptive Calibration Model (ACM), for example, calibration of speed of life history strategy to ecological cues encountered during development contributes to behavior that is conditionally adaptive to the organism’s environment. These theories emphasize the role of environmental influences and typically do not use designs that control potential genetic confounds. To address this methodological problem, the current study used a genetically informative design to test whether the phenotypic associations of parental instability and abuse with a slow life history factor were confounded by common genetic factors. We analyzed twin and singleton data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Survey using two convergent structural equation modeling approaches. Both approaches suggest that, when accounting for shared genetic variance across instability, abuse, and slow life history, some hypothesized environmental pathways between the early environmental measures and slow life history were not required. Once genetic factors were controlled, only parental instability was directly related to slow life history, while other hypothesized environmental pathways were non-significant. This suggests that developmental models that emphasize environmental and contextual pathways should control for possible genetic confounds.

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 147470491666684 ◽  
Author(s):  
George B. Richardson ◽  
Blair K. Sanning ◽  
Mark H. C. Lai ◽  
Lee T. Copping ◽  
Patrick H. Hardesty ◽  
...  

This article attends to recent discussions of validity in psychometric research on human life history strategy (LHS), provides a constructive critique of the extant literature, and describes strategies for improving construct validity. To place the psychometric study of human LHS on more solid ground, our review indicates that researchers should (a) use approaches to psychometric modeling that are consistent with their philosophies of measurement, (b) confirm the dimensionality of life history indicators, and (c) establish measurement invariance for at least a subset of indicators. Because we see confirming the dimensionality of life history indicators as the next step toward placing the psychometrics of human LHS on more solid ground, we use nationally representative data and structural equation modeling to test the structure of middle adult life history indicators. We found statistically independent mating competition and Super-K dimensions and the effects of parental harshness and childhood unpredictability on Super-K were consistent with past research. However, childhood socioeconomic status had a moderate positive effect on mating competition and no effect on Super-K, while unpredictability did not predict mating competition. We conclude that human LHS is more complex than previously suggested—there does not seem to be a single dimension of human LHS among Western adults and the effects of environmental components seem to vary between mating competition and Super-K.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089020702110140
Author(s):  
Gabriel Olaru ◽  
Mathias Allemand

The goal of this study was to examine differential and correlated change in personality across the adult lifespan. Studying differential and correlated change can help understand whether intraindividual trait change trajectories deviate from the norm and how these trajectories are coupled with each other. We used data from two large longitudinal panel studies from the United States that covered a total age range of 20 to 95 years on the first measurement occasion. We used correlated factor models and bivariate latent change score models to examine the rank-order stability and correlations between change across three measurement waves covering 18 years ( N = 3250) and four measurement waves covering 12 years ( N = 4145). We examined the moderation effects of continuous age on these model parameters using local structural equation modeling. The results suggest that the test–retest correlations decrease with increasing time between measurements but are unaffected by participants’ age. We found that change processes in Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were strongly related, particularly in late adulthood. Correlated change patterns were highly stable across time intervals and similar to the initial cross-sectional Big Five correlations. We discuss potential mechanisms and implications for personality development research.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels van der Aa ◽  
Eco J. C. De Geus ◽  
Toos C. E. M. van Beijsterveldt ◽  
Dorret I. Boomsma ◽  
Meike Bartels

The aim of this study was to investigate the degree to which genetic and environmental influences affect variation in adolescent exercise behavior. Data on regular leisure time exercise activities were analyzed in 8,355 adolescent twins, from three-age cohorts (13-14, 15-16, and 17–19 years). Exercise behavior was assessed with survey items about type of regular leisure time exercise, frequency, and duration of the activities. Participants were classified as sedentary, regular exercisers, or vigorous exercisers. The prevalence of moderate exercise behavior declined from age 13 to 19 years with a parallel increase in prevalence of sedentary behavior, whereas the prevalence of vigorous exercise behavior remained constant across age cohorts. Variation in exercise behavior was analyzed with genetic structural equation modeling employing a liability threshold model. Variation was largely accounted for by genetic factors (72% to 85% of the variance was explained by genetic factors), whereas shared environmental factors only accounted for a substantial part of the variation in girls aged 13-14 years (46%). We hypothesize that genetic effects on exercise ability may explain the high heritability of exercise behavior in this phase of life.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaitlin P. Ward ◽  
Gordon E. Limb ◽  
Sarah Higbee ◽  
Helena Haueter

Stepfamilies are one of the fastest growing family structures among all racial groups in the United States. Stepfamily research among many racial groups, specifically American Indians, is virtually nonexistent. This is unfortunate, as American Indians are more likely to divorce and remarry compared with other populations. From a family systems perspective, this study examined whether retrospectively perceived closeness in three stepfamily relationships, namely child–residential biological parent, child–residential stepparent, and child–stepsibling, were negatively associated with depression scores in 226 American Indian emerging adults. A structural equation model showed that increased child–residential biological parent and child–stepsibling closeness predicted decreased depression scores, whereas child–residential stepparent closeness did not. We also found that depression scores significantly predicted retrospective perceptions of child–residential biological parent, child–residential stepparent, and child–stepsibling closeness. Findings encourage interventions that strengthen American Indian child–residential biological parent and child–stepsibling relationships, and underscore the need for further research that explores American Indian stepfamily relationships.


1997 ◽  
Vol 106 (8) ◽  
pp. 624-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kari J. Kvaerner ◽  
Jennifer R. Harris ◽  
Kristian Tambs ◽  
Per Magnus

The distribution of recurrent ear infections was obtained from a population-based sample of 2,750 pairs of Norwegian twins born between 1967 and 1974. The lifetime prevalence of self-reported recurrent ear infections was 8.9%, with a significant predominance of female cases. The mean age of onset was 4.2 years, with a gradual decrease in occurrence from 2 to 7 years of age. Among monozygotic pairs, the rate of tetrachoric correlation between co-twins was almost identical in males (0.73, SE 0.08) and females (0.74, SE 0.06), but among the dizygotic pairs the correlation was clearly higher in males (0.53, SE 0.12) than in females (0.20, SE 0.12). The value in the unlike-sexed dizygotic twins (0.25, SE 0.05) was intermediate to that of the like-sexed male and female dizygotic pairs. The relative contribution of genes and environment to variability in the predisposition to develop otitis media was estimated by means of structural equation modeling. Variation in liability to ear infections was mainly explained by additive genetic and dominance factors in females, for whom heritability was estimated at 74%. The remaining 26% of the variation in liability was explained by individual environmental factors. In males, 45% of the variation could be accounted for by genetic factors, 29% by common familial environment, and the remaining 26% by individual environmental effects.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noni Zaharia ◽  
Kurt C. Mayer Jr. ◽  
Eric Hungenberg ◽  
Dianna Gray ◽  
David Stotlar

<p>This study sought to develop and test a cross-national sport sponsorship model. Sponsorship and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theories were utilized for the theoretical framework for this study. A survey was conducted with 522 Chelsea FC soccer club’s fans from the United States, the United Kingdom, and India in the area of sponsorship through a jersey sponsorship. Single and multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the global sport sponsorship model. The results acknowledged the measurement and structural invariance of a global model for five sport sponsorship outcomes (i.e., sponsorship awareness, sponsorship fit, attitude toward the sponsor, gratitude, and purchase intentions), controlling for age, gender, education, household income and the household’s decision maker. The statistical analyses indicated that structural relationships among the analyzed sponsorship outcomes were invariant among all three countries. The effect of sponsorship fit predicted the presence of purchase intentions, while the attitude toward the sponsor was the strongest predictor of purchase intentions.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (14) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolando Zubirán Shetler ◽  
Jesús Fabian López Pérez

Key words: Diffusion of innovations, electronic commerce, structural equations, Smart-PLS, technology acceptanceAbstract. The following article analyzes the principal factors that have an impact in the adoption of new telecom convergent services, through electronic commerce, that have been explored and studied primarily in developed markets such as the United States and that have been deemed as critical factors in the development and growth of online electronic transactions. Specifically, factors and latent variables of this study derive from the models of Technology Acceptance (Davis, 1989) and Diffusion of Innovations (Rogers, 2003). A summary of past empirical studies is provided deriving from the aforementioned theoretical models followed by results of an exploratory field study comprising of 253 valid observations randomly selected from within the population of urban internet users in Mexico. The methodology used to determine the causal relationship between variables (Betas) was factor analysis (Principal Components) and structural equation modeling, specifically Smart-PLS. The study determined that perceived utility and trust variables are statistically relevant and significant in determining purchase online of new telecom convergent services and the development of electronic commerce in the Mexican Market.Palabras clave: Aceptación de la tecnología, comercio electrónico, difusión de las innovaciones, ecuaciones estructurales, Smart-PLS.Resumen. Este artículo analiza los principales factores que influyen en la adopción de los nuevos servicios convergentes de telecomunicaciones, a traves del comercio electrónico, que han sido explorados y estudiados principalmente en mercados desarrollados como el de Estados Unidos y que han sido confirmados como factores críticos en el desarrollo y el crecimiento de las transacciones electrónicas en linea. Específicamente, los factores y variables latentes en este estudio se derivan de los modelos de Aceptación de la Tecnología (Davis, 1989) y la Difusión de las Innovaciones (Rogers, 2003). Se presenta un resumen de los antecedentes de estudios empíricos derivados de los mencionados modelos teóricos, seguido de los resultados de un estudio exploratorio de campo que comprende 253 observaciones válidas seleccionadas en forma aleatoria dentro de la población de usuarios urbanos de Internet en México. La metodología utilizada para determinar las relaciones causales entre las variables (Betas) fue análisis factorial (Componentes Principales) y el modelo de ecuaciones estructurales, específicamente Smart-PLS. El estudio determina que las variables percepción de utilidad y confianza son estadísticamente relevantes y significativas en la determinación de compra en línea de nuevos servicios convergentes de telecomunicaciones y en el desarrollo del comercio electrónico en el Mercado Mexicano.


2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 29-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Hee Shin

This study surveyed mobile users in the United States and Korea to determine the key differences between the two countries. Survey questions, developed in two languages, were presented in each country to explore the influences of informativeness, entertainment, interactivity, and availability on mobile user dimensions. The study design methods were based on the revision of a uses and gratifications approach, and a relational model of antecedents and consequences was tested with a structural equation modeling approach. Mobile Internet service uses and gratifications were analyzed cross-nationally in a comparative fashion focusing on the differences in the composition of motives in the two countries. Based on the results of this study, practical implications for marketing strategies in mobile service markets and theoretical implications for cross-country studies are recommended accordingly.


Vaccines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendall Pogue ◽  
Jamie L. Jensen ◽  
Carter K. Stancil ◽  
Daniel G. Ferguson ◽  
Savannah J. Hughes ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world, with the United States being highly affected. A vaccine provides the best hope for a permanent solution to controlling the pandemic. However, to be effective, a vaccine must be accepted and used by a large majority of the population. The aim of this study was to understand the attitudes towards and obstacles facing vaccination with a potential COVID-19 vaccine. To measure these attitudes a survey was administered to 316 respondents across the United States by a survey corporation. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships of several factors with attitudes toward potential COVID-19 vaccination. Prior vaccine usage and attitudes predicted attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination. Assessment of the severity of COVID-19 for the United States was also predictive. Approximately 68% of all respondents were supportive of being vaccinated for COVID-19, but side effects, efficacy and length of testing remained concerns. Longer testing, increased efficacy and development in the United States were significantly associated with increased vaccine acceptance. Messages promoting COVID-19 vaccination should seek to alleviate the concerns of those who are already vaccine-hesitant. Messaging directed at the benefits of vaccination for the United States as a country would address the second predictive factor. Enough time should be taken to allay concerns about both short- and long-term side effects before a vaccine is released.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Xie ◽  
Shu-Sha Angie Guan ◽  
David Boyns

The student recreation center (SRC) promotes quality of life among college students. Grounded in self-determination theory, this study examined the relationship between SRC use and subjective vitality using a sample of 540 students at a large state university in the United States. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that use of fitness and group sport facilities both had a positive relationship with subjective vitality, which were mediated by competence need satisfaction, relatedness need satisfaction, and perception of physical health. Implications of the study findings were discussed.


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