Ethical Justice in Psychological Modeling: Testing the Invariance of a Causal Model of Denial and Sublimation Based on Linguistic Capacities and Anxiety in Individuals Affected by Emotional Relationship Breakdown Across Gender

Introduction: In psychological research, one of the main challenges is the formation of incorrect judgments about gender differences; judgments that are sometimes not a reflection of the psychological reality of individuals, but are the result of conceptual biases and measurement inequities. Comparing psychological constructs without ensuring measurement equivalence can lead to unfair interpretations about women and men. Therefore, the aim of the current study is ethical justice in psychological modelling. Material & Methods: A sequential exploratory mixed-method design was employed. In the qualitative phase, ۲۰ in-depth interviews were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory to extract the components of linguistic capacities and anxiety. In the quantitative phase, a total of ۷۱۲ individuals (۳۷۳ women, ۳۳۹ men) who had experienced emotional relationship breakdown within the past two years completed the Linguistic Capacity Scale, the Post-Separation Anxiety Inventory, and the Defensive Style Questionnaire (DSQ). Structural equation modeling (SEM), path analysis, bootstrapping, and multigroup SEM (MGSEM) were used to test the models. Results: Model fit indices indicated that Model ۱, in which linguistic capacities affect denial and sublimation through reduced anxiety, demonstrated the best fit (RMSEA = ۰.۰۲۸, CFI = ۰.۹۷۶). Linguistic capacities directly reduced anxiety (β = –۰.۴۶), anxiety increased denial (β = ۰.۴۴) and decreased sublimation (β = –۰.۳۴). The indirect effects of linguistic capacities on denial (β = –۰.۲۱) and sublimation (β = ۰.۱۶) were significant. Gender invariance analysis showed that the model was stable across women and men at the configural, metric, and scalar levels. Conclusion: The findings indicate that linguistic capacities reduce anxiety, thereby strengthening the use of more mature defensive mechanisms such as sublimation and weakening the tendency toward denial. Gender invariance supports the conceptual fairness of the model and its generalizability across sexes.

کلیدواژه ها:

Ethical Fairness ، Language Capacity ، Anxiety ، Denial ، Sublimation ، Emotional Relationship Breakdown