Latent-variable measurement assumes the underlying concept causes its indicators.

Evidence

First, the factor analytic approach argues that there is a causal relationship between the basic or secondary level and the indicator level: the latent variable causes the indicator. This is basically the diseasesymptom model of phenomena: the disease causes the symptoms, not vice versa. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts, 130

Categorization

• DEFINE: Names the core causal model behind factor analysis: latent concept as cause, indicators as effects.
• XREF: The disease-symptom model echoes Susan Sontag’s critique of illness-as-metaphor and the germ-theory/epidemiology reasoning familiar from public-health writing.