Plot Method for lavaan Objects

This is a plot method for fitted lavaan objects, including CFA and SEM workflows created with lavaan::cfa(), lavaan::sem(), and related functions. It allows users to create different types of plots to visualize key aspects of lavaan models, including factor loadings, residuals, and path diagrams.

Usage

# S3 method for class 'lavaan'
plot(x, type = "factor_loadings", standardized = TRUE, ci = TRUE, ...)

Arguments

x

A fitted lavaan model object (for example from lavaan::cfa(), lavaan::sem(), or lavaan::growth()).

type

A character string indicating the type of plot to generate. Options are:

• "factor_loadings": Generates a dot plot of standardized factor loadings (=~ parameters), optionally including confidence intervals. If the model has no measurement component, an error is raised.

• "residuals": Generates a residual plot to visualize the differences between observed and model-implied covariances.

• "path": Generates a path diagram representing the model structure, showing the relationships between latent and observed variables.

standardized

Logical; if TRUE, uses standardized estimates for factor loadings. Only applicable when type = "factor_loadings". Defaults to TRUE.

ci

Logical; if TRUE, includes confidence intervals in the factor loading plot. Only applicable when type = "factor_loadings". Defaults to TRUE. Also accepts CI via ... for backward compatibility.

...

Additional arguments passed to the specific plotting functions.

Value

A ggplot object for factor_loadings and residuals plots if ggplot2 is installed, or a semPlot diagram object for path plots. An error message will be returned if required packages are not available.

Details

• Factor Loadings Plot: Displays a dot plot of factor loadings (=~ parameters only), with items on the y-axis and loadings on the x-axis. Confidence intervals can be added if desired.

• Residuals Plot: Shows the residuals (differences between observed and model-implied covariances), typically as a heatmap or scatterplot.

• Path Diagram: Illustrates the structure of the model, showing latent variables, observed variables, and the estimated relationships between them.

See also

• plot-methods for an overview of plotting in the package.

• plot_factor_loadings() which is called by this method for type = "factor_loadings".

Examples

if (requireNamespace("lavaan", quietly = TRUE) &&
    requireNamespace("ggplot2", quietly = TRUE)) {
  library(lavaan)
  library(psymetrics)
  hs_model <- 'visual  =~ x1 + x2 + x3
               textual =~ x4 + x5 + x6
               speed   =~ x7 + x8 + x9'
  fit <- cfa(hs_model, data = HolzingerSwineford1939, estimator = "MLR")
  plot(fit)
} else {
  message("Please install 'lavaan' and 'ggplot2' to run this example.")
}