Yes. Then if you push on this the claim becomes “okay it may not cause but it’s still useful because it predicts”. But then it’s like if predictive accuracy was your goal the design and analysis should be different e.g., CV + more predictors. I’ve been fully Westfall & Yarkoni-pilled on this point.
Ben Tappin
Psychology has a whole cottage industry in which people come up with some construct that is essentially "attitudes/beliefs/expectations/feelings about X", and then the central claim is that this construct is a super important determinant of future X outcomes.>
