Psychometric network models have become increasingly popular in psychology and the social sciences. Huth et al. show that a large proportion of reported network findings are based on weak or inconclusive evidence inviting caution when interpreting results.

Senior Lecturer (Academic Teaching)

The OECD regularly produces guidelines to advance the measurement of concepts that are crucial to the well-being of people, the planet and future generations. In 2013, the OECD published the first edi...

AbstractBackground. In longitudinal data, it is common to create ‘change scores’ by subtracting measurements taken at baseline from those taken at follow-u

Wir suchen: Universitätsprofessur für Experimentelle Psychologie (W2-analog) (Vollzeit) • Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58455 Witten, Deutschland

ALT: a logo for the carolina tar heels with a ram head

Primary responsibilities of the position will include conducting high quality research, publishing in peer reviewed journals and broader dissemination, seeking external funding for research, teaching ...

The persistent contentiousness of research on the age–happiness relationship is puzzling; it should be possible to gain clarity and consensus about how to address the question effectively. In this paper I show that a key reason for the lack of clarity consists of overreliance on statistical significance as a means of evaluating empirical results. The statistical significance of a quadratic specification (age plus age-squared) is often taken as evidence in support of a ‘u-shaped’ relationship between age and happiness. But statistical significance on its own cannot tell us whether the age–happiness relationship is ‘u-shaped’ (nor indeed whether it takes any other shape). On the contrary, statistical significance can mislead us about it: a set of quadratic age coefficients can be ‘significant’ even when the relationship is obviously characterised by a different shape. When we have clarity on how to construct the analysis so that we can ‘see’ the underlying patterns in the data, it becomes obvious that the age–happiness relationship in European countries commonly shows other patterns; a u-shape is evident only in a minority of countries.