Multivariate Misgivings: Is a Valid Measure of Group and Sex Differences?

In the study of group and sex differences in multivariate domains such as personality and aggression, univariate effect sizes may underestimate the extent to which groups differ from one another. When multivariate effect sizes such as Mahalanobis D are employed, sex differences are often found to be...

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Main Author: Marco Del Giudice
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2013-12-01
Series:Evolutionary Psychology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/147470491301100511
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spelling doaj-1bbdeba770a74f708b6f7f149672920a2020-11-25T03:47:13ZengSAGE PublishingEvolutionary Psychology1474-70492013-12-011110.1177/14747049130110051110.1177_147470491301100511Multivariate Misgivings: Is a Valid Measure of Group and Sex Differences?Marco Del GiudiceIn the study of group and sex differences in multivariate domains such as personality and aggression, univariate effect sizes may underestimate the extent to which groups differ from one another. When multivariate effect sizes such as Mahalanobis D are employed, sex differences are often found to be considerably larger than commonly assumed. In this paper, I review and discuss recent criticism concerning the validity of D as an effect size in psychological research. I conclude that the main arguments against D are incorrect, logically inconsistent, or easily answered on methodological grounds. When correctly employed and interpreted, D provides a valid, convenient measure of group and sex differences in multivariate domains.https://doi.org/10.1177/147470491301100511
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Marco Del Giudice
spellingShingle Marco Del Giudice
Multivariate Misgivings: Is a Valid Measure of Group and Sex Differences?
Evolutionary Psychology
author_facet Marco Del Giudice
author_sort Marco Del Giudice
title Multivariate Misgivings: Is a Valid Measure of Group and Sex Differences?
title_short Multivariate Misgivings: Is a Valid Measure of Group and Sex Differences?
title_full Multivariate Misgivings: Is a Valid Measure of Group and Sex Differences?
title_fullStr Multivariate Misgivings: Is a Valid Measure of Group and Sex Differences?
title_full_unstemmed Multivariate Misgivings: Is a Valid Measure of Group and Sex Differences?
title_sort multivariate misgivings: is a valid measure of group and sex differences?
publisher SAGE Publishing
series Evolutionary Psychology
issn 1474-7049
publishDate 2013-12-01
description In the study of group and sex differences in multivariate domains such as personality and aggression, univariate effect sizes may underestimate the extent to which groups differ from one another. When multivariate effect sizes such as Mahalanobis D are employed, sex differences are often found to be considerably larger than commonly assumed. In this paper, I review and discuss recent criticism concerning the validity of D as an effect size in psychological research. I conclude that the main arguments against D are incorrect, logically inconsistent, or easily answered on methodological grounds. When correctly employed and interpreted, D provides a valid, convenient measure of group and sex differences in multivariate domains.
url https://doi.org/10.1177/147470491301100511
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