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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Quantitative Psychology and Measurement
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1499960
This article is part of the Research Topic Methodological and Statistical Advances in Educational Assessment View all 7 articles
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Taxometric analysis (TA) is a technique aimed at elucidating the structure of a psychological construct, namely determining whether the latent variable is categorical (taxon) or dimensional. The taxon hypothesis is significant because the structure of a latent construct influences how we conceptualize, characterize, and measure it,. This, thus, impacting the methodology employed in both research and practical applications. In this work, data from two separate studies were subjected to TA. Study 1 pertains to secondary school students (N=2024) and encompasses factors such as Achievement Goals and Self-Efficacy within the context of language acquisition. Study 2 examines issues among service teachers (N=494) and incorporates variables such as Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, Commitment, and Cognitive and Affective conditions within the framework of STEM education. Given that the taxon hypothesis is tested for the first time using these types of psychoeducational data, Taxometrics is applied in an exploratory manner to provide a deeper understanding of the nature of these constructs. The results of TA are based on a series of indicators, identified cases of dimensional constructs when items of one mere dimension were used as input. However, when all elements related to achievement goals and teacher readiness were utilized as input, the results revealed confusing latent structures. This emerging ambiguity prompts theoretical and epistemological discourse to explain the findings and advocate for a reevaluation of the nature of latent psychoeducational constructs.
Keywords: latent constructs, taxometrics, Taxon, Dimensional, MAMBAC, MAXEIG, L-mode, Comparison curve fit index
Received: 22 Sep 2024; Accepted: 25 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Stamovlasis, Vaiopoulou, Stavropoulou and Papagiannopoulou. 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.
* Correspondence:
Dimitrios Stamovlasis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
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