The DOI matches its Crossref record.
In defense of external invalidity.
Abstract
Many psychological investigations are accused of failure to generalize to the real because of sample bias or artificiality of setting. It is argued in this article that such generalizations often are not intended. Rather than making predic- tions about the real world from the laboratory, we may test predictions that specify what ought to hap- pen in the lab. We may regard even artificial find- ings as interesting because they show what can occur, even if it rarely does. Or, where we do make gener- alizations, they may have added force because of artificiality of sample or setting. A misplaced preoc- cupation with external validity can lead us to dismiss good research for which generalization to real life is not intended or meaningful.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cited by
The weirdest people in the world?
Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x0999152x · Cited by 12,641
Gosling, S. D., Vazire, S., Srivastava, S., & John, O. P. (2004) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.59.2.93 · Cited by 2,932
Gilbert, D. T., & Malone, P. S. (1995) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.117.1.21 · Cited by 1,897
Glasgow, R. E., Lichtenstein, E., & Marcus, A. C. (2003) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.93.8.1261 · Cited by 1,836
Enhancing Students' Engagement by Increasing Teachers' Autonomy Support
Reeve, J., Jang, H., Carrell, D., Jeon, S., & Barch, J. (2004) · Motivation and Emotion · doi:10.1023/b:moem.0000032312.95499.6f · Cited by 1,594
Authentic leadership: A review of the literature and research agenda
Gardner, W. L., Cogliser, C. C., Davis, K. M., & Dickens, M. P. (2011) · The Leadership Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.09.007 · Cited by 1,340
Anderson, N., De Dreu, C. K. W., & Nijstad, B. A. (2004) · Journal of Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1002/job.236 · Cited by 1,035
When small effects are impressive
Prentice, D. A., & Miller, D. T. (1992) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.160 · Cited by 1,008
Homan, A. C., van Knippenberg, D., Van Kleef, G. A., & De Dreu, C. K. W. (2007) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.92.5.1189 · Cited by 685
Glasgow, R. E., Klesges, L. M., Dzewaltowski, D. A., Bull, S. S., & Estabrooks, P. (2004) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1207/s15324796abm2701_2 · Cited by 635
Convenience samples of college students and research reproducibility
Peterson, R. A., & Merunka, D. R. (2014) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.08.010 · Cited by 567
Jussim, L., Eccles, J., & Madon, S. (1996) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60240-3 · Cited by 555
Students as Experimental Participants: A Defense of the “Narrow Data Base”
Druckman, J. N., & Kam, C. D. (2011) · Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511921452.004 · Cited by 454
Fraley, R. C., & Vazire, S. (2014) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0109019 · Cited by 409
A meta-analysis of ratee race effects in performance ratings.
Kraiger, K., & Ford, J. K. (1985) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.70.1.56 · Cited by 376
Dynamical evolutionary psychology: Individual decision rules and emergent social norms.
Kenrick, D. T., Li, N. P., & Butner, J. (2003) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.110.1.3 · Cited by 358
The ‘Real-World Approach’ and Its Problems: A Critique of the Term Ecological Validity
Holleman, G. A., Hooge, I. T. C., Kemner, C., & Hessels, R. S. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00721 · Cited by 345
Jost, J. T., Rudman, L. A., Blair, I. V., Carney, D. R., Dasgupta, N., Glaser, J., & Hardin, C. D. (2009) · Research in Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.riob.2009.10.001 · Cited by 353
Designing experiments that generalize
Highhouse, S. (2009) · Organizational Research Methods · doi:10.1177/1094428107300396 · Cited by 353
VOICE, CONTROL, AND BELONGING: The Double-Edged Sword of Procedural Fairness
MacCoun, R. J. (2005) · Annual Review of Law and Social Science · doi:10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.1.041604.115958 · Cited by 343
“These experiments necessarily sacrifice ecological realism in order to increase the internal (causal) validity of the hypothesis testing (Mook, 1983), which is essential in a domain where endogenous, reciprocal, or spurious influences are plausible.”
BackgroundTesting a self‐determination theory‐based teaching style intervention in the exercise domain
Edmunds, J., Ntoumanis, N., & Duda, J. L. (2008) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.463 · Cited by 336
Rothman, A. J. (2004) · International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity · doi:10.1186/1479-5868-1-11 · Cited by 322
Beyond small, medium, or large: points of consideration when interpreting effect sizes
Bakker, A., Cai, J., English, L., Kaiser, G., Mesa, V., & Van Dooren, W. (2019) · Educational Studies in Mathematics · doi:10.1007/s10649-019-09908-4 · Cited by 302
Rigorous Large-Scale Educational RCTs Are Often Uninformative: Should We Be Concerned?
Lortie-Forgues, H., & Inglis, M. (2019) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x19832850 · Cited by 234
Self-efficacy and resource allocation: Support for a nonmonotonic, discontinuous model.
Vancouver, J. B., More, K. M., & Yoder, R. J. (2008) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.1.35 · Cited by 234
Banas, J. A., & Miller, G. (2013) · Human Communication Research · doi:10.1111/hcre.12000 · Cited by 233
Pereira, J., Vickers, K., Atkinson, L., Gonzalez, A., Wekerle, C., & Levitan, R. (2012) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.01.006 · Cited by 222
Microfoundations of Corporate Social Responsibility and Irresponsibility
Shea, C. T., & Hawn, O. V. (2019) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2014.0795 · Cited by 209
Feedback Specificity, Exploration, and Learning.
Goodman, J. S., Wood, R. E., & Hendrickx, M. (2004) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.89.2.248 · Cited by 201
Single-case methodology in psychotherapy process and outcome research
Hilliard, R. B. (1993) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.61.3.373 · Cited by 198
SLBS-6: Validation of a Short Form of the Servant Leadership Behavior Scale
Sendjaya, S., Eva, N., Butar Butar, I., Robin, M., & Castles, S. (2019) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-017-3594-3 · Cited by 172
Brief, A. P., Dukerich, J. M., Brown, P. R., & Brett, J. F. (1996) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/bf00705586 · Cited by 164
Ecological validity of social interaction tests in rats and mice
Kondrakiewicz, K., Kostecki, M., Szadzińska, W., & Knapska, E. (2019) · Genes, Brain and Behavior · doi:10.1111/gbb.12525 · Cited by 136
How leaders' emotional displays shape followers' organizational citizenship behavior
Koning, L. F., & Van Kleef, G. A. (2015) · The Leadership Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.03.001 · Cited by 127
The nuts and bolts of behavioral observation of marital and family interaction
Margolin, G., Oliver, P. H., Gordis, E. B., O'Hearn, H. G., Medina, A. M., Ghosh, C. M., & Morland, L. (1998) · Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review · doi:10.1023/a:1022608117322 · Cited by 123
On the Unique Psychological Import of the Human Awareness of Mortality: Theme and Variations
Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., & Maxfield, M. (2006) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1080/10478400701369542 · Cited by 122
Experimental Research on Jury Decision-Making
MacCoun, R. J. (1989) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.244.4908.1046 · Cited by 117
Permutation test is not distribution-free: Testing H₀: ρ = 0.
Hayes, A. F. (1996) · Psychological Methods · doi:10.1037/1082-989x.1.2.184 · Cited by 119
Social rewards: From basic social building blocks to complex social behavior
Tamir, D. I., & Hughes, B. L. (2018) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691618776263 · Cited by 109
The relationship between sensory processing, childhood rituals and obsessive-compulsive symptoms
Dar, R., Kahn, D. T., & Carmeli, R. (2012) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2011.09.008 · Cited by 104
El-Sheikh, M. (1994) · Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology · doi:10.1007/bf02171994 · Cited by 99
Pollet, T. V., & Saxton, T. K. (2019) · Evolutionary Psychological Science · doi:10.1007/s40806-019-00192-2 · Cited by 89
The Influence of Advisers on Foreign Policy Decision Making: An Experimental Study
REDD, S. B. (2002) · Journal of Conflict Resolution · doi:10.1177/0022002702046003002 · Cited by 79
The Past, Present, and Future of Experimental Methods in the Social Sciences
Mize, T. D., & Manago, B. (2022) · Social Science Research · doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2022.102799 · Cited by 76
Hu, J., Small, H., Kean, H., Takahashi, A., Zekelman, L., Kleinman, D., Ryan, E., Nieto-Castañón, A., Ferreira, V., & Fedorenko, E. (2023) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhac350 · Cited by 73
Cole, J. C., Gillis, A. J., van der Linden, S., Cohen, M. A., & Vandenbergh, M. P. (2025) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/17456916231186409 · Cited by 61
Tee, E. (. J., Ashkanasy, N. M., & Paulsen, N. (2013) · The Leadership Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.03.005 · Cited by 59
Policy Implications of Implicit Social Cognition
Nosek, B. A., & Riskind, R. G. (2012) · Social Issues and Policy Review · doi:10.1111/j.1751-2409.2011.01037.x · Cited by 55
Capitalizing on opportunities to refine health behavior theories
Rothman, A. J. (2009) · Health Education & Behavior · doi:10.1177/1090198109340514 · Cited by 43
(2004) · Cited by 43
The Disguise of Sobriety: Unveiled by Alcohol in Persons With an Aggressive Personality
Giancola, P. R., Parrott, D. J., Silvia, P. J., DeWall, C. N., Bègue, L., Subra, B., Duke, A. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2012) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00726.x · Cited by 26
Advancing innovations in social/personality psychology and health: Opportunities and challenges
Rothman, A. J., Klein, W. M. P., & Cameron, L. D. (2013) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0032116 · Cited by 19
Blanton, H., & Ikizer, E. G. (2019) · Social Issues and Policy Review · doi:10.1111/sipr.12055 · Cited by 18
Metadata
- Authors
- Mook, D. G.
- Venue
- American Psychologist
- Published
- 1983-04
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 379-387
- ISSN
- 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-990X
- OpenAlex
- W2125292601
- Cited by
- 1,212
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 34.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
