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I've Found It, but What Does It Mean? On the Importance of Theory in Identifying Dominant General Factors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2016

Zhenyu Yuan
Zhenyu Yuan*
Affiliation:
Department of Management and Organizations, University of Iowa
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Zhenyu Yuan, Department of Management and Organizations, University of Iowa, 108 John Pappajohn Business Building, Iowa City, IA 52242. E-mail: [email protected]
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Extract

In their focal article, Ree, Carretta, and Teachout (2015) based their definition of a dominant general factor (DGF) on two criteria: (a) A DGF should be the largest source of reliable variance; (b) it is influencing every variable measuring the construct. Although detailed attention has been paid to the statistical properties of a DGF, I believe another criterion of equal if not greater importance is the theoretical justification to expect a DGF in the measurement of a construct. In the following commentary, I will highlight the importance of theory as another important criterion when determining the meaningfulness and usefulness of DGFs, discuss the risks of creating a DGF without any theoretical guidance, and elaborate on the complexities surrounding job performance as a detailed example to illustrate why theory is important before extracting a DGF from performance ratings.

Type
Commentaries
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 212 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2016 

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