Specious causal attributions in the social sciences
The reformulated stepping-stone theory of heroin use as exemplar
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6201206 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Diana Baumrind (California Institute for Human Science, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1983 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1289-1298 |
| Publication date | 1983-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037//0022-3514.45.6.1289 |
| PMID | 6607334 |
| OpenAlex | W2017934106 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 39 |
| References cited | 5 |
The claims based on causal models employing either statistical or experimental controls are examined and found to be excessive when applied to social or behavioral science data. An exemplary case, in which strong causal claims are made on the basis of a weak version of the regularity model of cause, is critiqued. O'Donnell and Clayton claim that in order to establish that marijuana use is a cause of heroin use (their "reformulated stepping-stone" hypothesis), it is necessary and sufficient to demonstrate that marijuana use precedes heroin use and that the statistically significant association between the two does not vanish when the effects of other variables deemed to be prior to both of them are removed. I argue that O'Donnell and Clayton's version of the regularity model is not sufficient to establish cause and that the planning of social interventions both presumes and requires a generative rather than a regularity causal model. Causal modeling using statistical controls is of value when it compels the investigator to make explicit and to justify a causal explanation but not when it is offered as a substitute for a generative analysis of causal connection.
Attribution · Causal analysis · Causal inference · Causal model · Causal theory of reference · Causality (physics · Cognitive psychology · Econometrics · Epistemology · Generative grammar · Heroin · Implicit personality theory · Perception · Personality · Social perception · Statistics · Artificial Intelligence · Bayesian Modeling and Causal Inference · Computer Science · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Psychology
Inside the Gate
Full Issue
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Correcting for Measurement Error Attenuation in Structural Equation Models
Inferential Meta‐Themes in Organizational Science Research
Eight Myths About Causality and Structural Equation Models
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The person‐situation debate
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From Nuisance Variables to Explanatory Theories
The misuse of the ‘Gateway Theory’ in US policy on drug abuse control
Causal Modeling in Family Research
Emotional Transmission in the Daily Lives of Families
Conceptual and Methodological Issues in the Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion
Testing aspects of Carl Rogers's theory of creative environments
Simulation Studies of the Reliability of Computer-Aided Model Specification Using the Tetrad II, EQS, and Lisrel Programs
Practical Issues in Structural Modeling
| Unique citing works | 26 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,93 |
| Citation span | 1984 - 2022 (39) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 33 |