Between- versus within-family factor analyses of cognitive abilities

Confirmatory factor analyses of the 15 cognitive abilities tests from the Hawaii Family Study of Cognition were conducted on between-family (BF) means and within-family (WF) differences for 370 AEA (Americans of European ancestry) and 116 AJA (Americans of Japanese ancestry) sibling pairs. Difference chi-square significance tests, goodness-of-fit indices, and congruence coefficients for the estimated loadings on four specific cognitive abilities factors and on the second-order general intelligence factor nearly all indicated that the between-family factor structures were not significantly different from the within-family structures for both AEA and AJA siblings (the AEA and AJA structures were also not significantly different). The similarity of the BF and WF structures suggests that the genetic and environmental influences underlying cognitive abilities are “intrinsic” in nature, that is, not just due to between-family differences in culture, status, values, and fortuitous cross-assortative mating.     

Age and cohort effects on personality factor scores across sexes and racial/ethnic groups

Substantial differences exist across ethnic groups and sexes in generational changes in status among groups residing in Hawaii. Despite these generational differences across groups, age differences in personality are remarkably consistent across sexes and racial/ethnic groups, and the few Sex x Age, Ethnicity x Age or Sex x Ethnicity x Age interactions account for little variance in scores. It is concluded that age/generational differences in personality factor scores in these populations result from age and not, to any major degree, from cohort effects.     

A Test of the Three-Component Model of Gender-Based Prejudices: Homophobia and Transphobia Are Affected by Raters’ and Targets’ Assigned Sex at Birth

Sex Roles - The present study tested a three-component model of homophobia and transphobia that differentiates between general and specifically gender-based social threats that motivate these...     

Effects of sex,status, and mating cues on expected aggressive responses

The effect of sex, status, and mating cues on expected aggression was examined via three scenario‐based studies in which participants imagined themselves in a situation with a same‐sex instigator of a provocation. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a scenario, which included one of two levels of status of instigator (high, low), one of two levels of attractiveness of the instigator (unattractive, attractive), and one of two levels of provocation (apology, insult). Sex and dispositional aggressivity were also included in a full factorial design. Based on evolutionary psychology ideas, we anticipated that status and attractiveness would differentially influence expected aggression for men vs. women. Participants in Experiment 1 were instructed to imagine that they were alone, whereas participants in Experiments 2 and 3 imagined themselves in a situation that included mating‐related primes. In general expected aggression was greater for aggression‐prone participants and under conditions of provocation and/or a high‐status instigator. Experiments 2 and 3 found that, in the context of mate competition, sex differences in the effects of instigator provocation, status, and attractiveness emerged: greater aggressivity now only predicted more aggression for males but not females who were insulted; aggression was highest for females confronting an unattractive, high‐status instigator and for males confronting an attractive, high‐status instigator; females were more likely to aggress against a high‐status instigator, regardless of being in a steady relationship or a first date situation, but males were only more likely to aggress against a high‐status instigator in a first date situation. Aggr. Behav. 35:259–273, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Group differences and first principal-component loadings in the Hawaii family study of cognition: a test of the generality of ‘Spearman's hypothesis’

The generality of Spearman's hypothesis that varying differences between whites and blacks on various tests of mental ability are correlated with their g-loadings was tested by analyzing group data from the Hawaii Family Study of Cognition. Data from the three largest ethnic groups tested in the Hawaii Study (Americans of Japanese, Chinese or European ancestry; total N = 5333) were subjected to a principal-component analysis and the first principal component was used as a measure of g. Ethnic group and generation (parent-offspring) differences on 15 tests of specific cognitive abilities were then correlated with their first principal-component loadings. In general, correlations between ethnic group differences and g-loadings are smaller than those recently reported for white-black differences by Jensen (1983); however, those between generation differences and g-loadings are larger. Ethnic group differences on first principal-component scores in the Hawaii Study are less than parent-offspring differences; thus, the correlation between group differences on tests of mental ability and their g-loadings may be a function of the magnitude of the group difference for general mental ability. Because a group difference on g requires group differences on tests which load on g, an observed group difference in general mental ability may necessarily result in a correlation between group differences on individual tests and their g-loadings.     

Correlations of measures of personality and of intelligence within and across generations

Members of over 100 families were administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) as well as various psychometric tests of personality. Individual cognitive and personality measures often were associated. Parent personality scale scores often were associated with offspring WAIS scores and vice versa. Stepwise multiple regressions demonstrated that knowledge of parental personality test scores substantially increased the predictability of offspring WAIS scores.     

Ethnic group-by-generation interactions in WAIS scores in the Hawaii family study of cognition

This paper is a comparatively small-scale replication of a paper by DeFries, Corley, Johnson, Vandenberg, & Wilson (1982), using that subset of the DeFries subject group that was administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and comparing parent vs. offspring performance of Americans of European and of Japanese Ancestry. Like DeFries et al., significant ethnic group-by-generation interactions were obtained in WAIS scores, suggesting the existence of substantial cultural influences on cognitive-test performance.