Test of Nyborg's General Trait Covariance (GTC) model for hormonally guided development by means of structural equation modeling

Abstract

Nyborg's General Trait Covariance (GTC) model for hormonally guided development investigates the influence of gonadal hormones and fluid intelligence on body build, achievement, and socioeconomic variables. According to the model, testosterone should be negatively related to height, fat/muscle ratio, intelligence, income, and education. It is conceived that this influence should be determined to a great extent by mutual relationships between these variables. The model was tested by means of structural equation modeling (SEM) in a sample of 4375 males who had served in the United States Armed Forces. The results largely confirm Nyborg's androtype model but in addition reflect the relationships between the variables included in a quantitative causal manner. It could be shown that testosterone has a negative influence on crystallized intelligence and that this effect is mainly mediated by the negative influence of testosterone on education. An additional multiple group analysis testing for structural invariance across age groups revealed that the mediating role of education is more pronounced in old veterans. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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