In this article we attend to recent critiques of psychometric applications of life history (LH) theory to variance among humans and develop theory to advance the study of latent LH constructs. We then reanalyze data (n = 4,244) previously examined by Richardson et al. (Evolutionary Psychology, 15(1), 2017, https://doi.org/10.1177/1474704916666840 to determine whether (a) previously reported evidence of multidimensionality is robust to the modeling approach employed and (b) the structure of LH indicators is invariant by sex. Findings provide further evidence that a single LH dimension is implausible and that researchers should cease interpreting K-factor scores as empirical proxies for LH speed. In contrast to the original study, we detected a small inverse correlation between mating competition and Super-K that is consistent with a trade-off. Tests of measurement invariance across the sexes revealed evidence of metric invariance (i.e., equivalence of factor loadings), consistent with the theory that K is a proximate cause of its indicators; however, evidence of partial scalar invariance suggests use of scores likely introduces bias when the sexes are compared. We discuss limitations and identify approaches that researchers may use to further evaluate the validity of the K-factor and other applications of LH to human variation.

在本文中，我们关注最近对生命史 (LH) 理论在人类差异方面的心理测量应用的批评，并发展理论以推进潜在 LH 结构的研究。然后，我们重新分析 了理查森等人先前检查过的数据 ( n = 4,244)。（进化心理学，15(1), 2017, https://doi.org/10.1177/1474704916666840 以确定 (a) 先前报告的多维证据是否对所采用的建模方法具有鲁棒性，以及 (b) LH 指标的结构是否因性别而异。研究结果提供了进一步的证据，证明单一的 LH 维度是不可信的，研究人员应该停止将 K 因子分数解释为 LH 速度的经验代理。与原始研究相反，我们发现交配竞争和 Super-K 之间存在小的负相关，这与权衡一致。跨性别的测量不变性测试揭示了度量不变性的证据（即因子载荷的等效性），这与 K 是其指标的近因的理论一致；然而，部分标量不变性的证据表明，在比较性别时，使用分数可能会引入偏差。我们讨论了局限性并确定了研究人员可以用来进一步评估 K 因子的有效性和 LH 对人类变异的其他应用的方法。