I just posted in other thread, "standard deviation is basically the difference between each number. Say s t u v = 1, 2, 3, 4, the gap between each number is 1. If 3s, 3t, 3u, 3v, then 3, 6, 9, 12 and gap between each number increased to 3. The correct answer for number 4 is (|s|, |t|, |u|, |v|). Multiplication will increase the standard deviation "
the absolute value doesn't matter, what matters for standard deviation is the difference between each number. if s t u v is -1, -2, -3, -4, the difference between each number is still 1. Changing them to |s|, |t|, |u|, |v|, then the difference between 1, 2, 3, 4 is still 1.