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dc.contributor.authorHagger, Martin S
dc.contributor.authorGucciardi, Daniel F
dc.contributor.authorChatzisarantis, Nikos LD
dc.date.accessioned2023-07-03T22:42:00Z
dc.date.available2023-07-03T22:42:00Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.identifier.issn1664-1078en_US
dc.identifier.doi10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01933en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/409481
dc.description.abstractTests of social cognitive theories provide informative data on the factors that relate to health behavior, and the processes and mechanisms involved. In the present article, we contend that tests of social cognitive theories should adhere to the principles of nomological validity, defined as the degree to which predictions in a formal theoretical network are confirmed. We highlight the importance of nomological validity tests to ensure theory predictions can be disconfirmed through observation. We argue that researchers should be explicit on the conditions that lead to theory disconfirmation, and identify any auxiliary assumptions on which theory effects may be conditional. We contend that few researchers formally test the nomological validity of theories, or outline conditions that lead to model rejection and the auxiliary assumptions that may explain findings that run counter to hypotheses, raising potential for 'falsification evasion.' We present a brief analysis of studies (k = 122) testing four key social cognitive theories in health behavior to illustrate deficiencies in reporting theory tests and evaluations of nomological validity. Our analysis revealed that few articles report explicit statements suggesting that their findings support or reject the hypotheses of the theories tested, even when findings point to rejection. We illustrate the importance of explicit a priori specification of fundamental theory hypotheses and associated auxiliary assumptions, and identification of the conditions which would lead to rejection of theory predictions. We also demonstrate the value of confirmatory analytic techniques, meta-analytic structural equation modeling, and Bayesian analyses in providing robust converging evidence for nomological validity. We provide a set of guidelines for researchers on how to adopt and apply the nomological validity approach to testing health behavior models.en_US
dc.description.peerreviewedYesen_US
dc.languageEnglishen_US
dc.publisherFrontiers Mediaen_US
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom1933en_US
dc.relation.ispartofjournalFrontiers in Psychologyen_US
dc.relation.ispartofvolume8en_US
dc.subject.fieldofresearchCognitive and computational psychologyen_US
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode5204en_US
dc.subject.keywordsSocial Sciencesen_US
dc.subject.keywordsPsychology, Multidisciplinaryen_US
dc.subject.keywordsPsychologyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsnomological validityen_US
dc.subject.keywordspredictive validityen_US
dc.titleOn nomological validity and auxiliary assumptions: The importance of simultaneously testing effects in social cognitive theories applied to health behavior and some guidelinesen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articlesen_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationHagger, MS; Gucciardi, DF; Chatzisarantis, NLD, On nomological validity and auxiliary assumptions: The importance of simultaneously testing effects in social cognitive theories applied to health behavior and some guidelines, Frontiers in Psychology, 2017, 8, pp. 1933en_US
dcterms.dateAccepted2017-10-19
dcterms.licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_US
dc.date.updated2021-10-26T05:39:15Z
dc.description.versionVersion of Record (VoR)en_US
gro.rights.copyright© 2017 Hagger, Gucciardi and Chatzisarantis. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.en_US
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gro.griffith.authorHagger, Martin S.


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