ArticlePerspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science2020
The Taboo Against Explicit Causal Inference in Nonexperimental Psychology.
Article in Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
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- Trust in advisor predicts Ph.D. students' academic motivation, well-being, and achievement: A prospective longitudinal study.PNAS nexus · 2026Article
- Personality Genomics.Annual review of psychology · 2026Review
- Challenges and opportunities of psychological aging research.European journal of ageing · 2025Review
- Distinguishing cause from effect in psychological research: An independence-based approach under linear non-Gaussian models.The British journal of mathematical and statistical psychology · 2025Article
- An interdisciplinary linked-lives approach to individual differences in social behaviour.Nature human behaviour · 2025Review
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- Enhancing social science research on cyberbullying through human machine collaboration.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A causal framework for the drivers of animal social network structure.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Perceived Inequality and Wellness: Investigating the Longitudinal Links Between Relative Deprivation, Facets of Well-Being, and Self-Rated Health.Affective science · 2025Article
- Experience sampling method studies in physical activity research: the relevance of causal reasoning.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Article
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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Abstract
Causal inference is a central goal of research. However, most psychologists refrain from explicitly addressing causal research questions and avoid drawing causal inference on the basis of nonexperimental evidence. We argue that this taboo against causal inference in nonexperimental psychology impairs study design and data analysis, holds back cumulative research, leads to a disconnect between original findings and how they are interpreted in subsequent work, and limits the relevance of nonexperimental psychology for policymaking. At the same time, the taboo does not prevent researchers from interpreting findings as causal effects-the inference is simply made implicitly, and assumptions remain unarticulated. Thus, we recommend that nonexperimental psychologists begin to talk openly about causal assumptions and causal effects. Only then can researchers take advantage of recent methodological advances in causal reasoning and analysis and develop a solid understanding of the underlying causal mechanisms that can inform future research, theory, and policymakers.
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