ESMARConf2023: Multiverse/specification curve analyses as assessments of effects generality 4 MASEMs
Channel: ESMARConf
Date: 2023-03-29

Presenter: Sabine Patzl
Authors: Patzl, Sabine; Diedrich, Jennifer; Pietschnig, Jakob; Lewalter, Doris
Session: Quantitative synthesis 1
Title: Using multiverse and specification curve analyses as an assessment of generality of effects for MASEMs: A meta-analysis on creative potential and self-assessment measures
Abstract: Creativity is not only a characteristic of, e.g., scientific geniuses and artists, but it is the general opinion that everyone has a certain amount of creative potential. A person's creative potential does not necessarily lead to creative achievements, as there is evidence that the relationship might be partially explained through creative self-assessments (=CSA) such as creative self-beliefs. However, the question of the relationship between CSA and the actual creative potential remains unresolved. The main goal of this meta-analysis is to investigate whether two indicators of creative potential (i.e., divergent thinking and intelligence) are associated with CSA. Here, we use a meta-analytical structural equation modeling (=MASEM) approach as proposed by Wilson and colleagues (2016), to model expectable effect size dependencies. Furthermore, we expect to find a substantial amount of heterogeneity in the data due to effects of moderating variables. However, because MASEMs are limited in how many moderators can be included, we will use two approaches to investigate the effect generality of the scrutinized MASEM. First, we will apply subgroup analyses to test if parameter estimates are equal across the different CSA types and age groups. Second, we will apply multiverse and specification curve analyses to all bivariate relationships. This allows us to investigate the influence of various study design variables and (reasonable) meta-analytical decisions simultaneously and thus contributes to disentangling the causes of inconsistent study results concerning the relationship between creative potential and CSA in the available literature. We show how multiverse and specification curve analyses combined with MASEMs can be used to assess the generality of research synthesis outcomes.