Mediators and Moderators

Moderators: With moderation, a third variable impacts or interacts with the relationship between two other variables. We would say the relationship between two variables is ‘moderated.’ This can be thought of as an interaction in a standard regression:

Y = b0 + b1*X1 + b2*X2 + b3*X1*X2

b3 =moderating effect i.e. the relationship between Y and X1 changes with levels of X2
b1 = impact of X1 on Y when X2 = 0.

So in the context of the relationship between Y and X1, X2 is a moderator

Mediators: With mediation, a third variable invervenes in the relationship between two other variables. For example, in the diagram below, suppose we are interested in the relationship between x and y. This relationship may be ‘mediated’ by a third variable m.

Consider a model where Y = grade in course (our outcome of interest), k = IQ, m =  study skills. We might hypothesize that study skills ‘mediate’ the effect of IQ on course grade. A perfectly brilliant person might do OK on an exam through educated guesses, but we all might know of cases where brilliant students have done quite poor due to lax study skills. So while there may be a direct effect of IQ on grades, IQ -> grades or x -> y there is an indirect effect as well, IQ->Study Skills -> grade or x -> m -> y.

This implies that mediation can take a number of forms and can be formally tested. In the case of full mediation, the relationship between x and y becomes insignificant after a mediator ‘m’ is included in the model, or our estimate of c (modeling the path or direct effect between x and y) isn’t significantly different from 0. Partial mediation would occur if the relationship between x and y or  c is reduced (but remains significant) after m is entered into the model).  In this case we could say that x has both direct effects on y (through the path c) as well as an indirect effect (through the mediator m or paths a and b).

These relationships can be formally tested as laid out in Hair et al:

1) Test for significant correlations between x,y or estimate c; x,m or estimate a; m,y or estimate b
2) If c is significant after m is included, and the magnitude of c does not change then m is not a mediator.
3) If the magnitude of c is reduced after including m, and c remains significant, then m is a moderator. This is a case of partial mediation.
4) If including m in the model reduces the magnitude of c such that it is not significantly different from 0, then m is a mediator and this is considered a case of full mediation.

Reference: Multivariate Data Analysis. 6th Edition. Harris, Black, Babin, Anderson and Tatham. Pearson-Prentice Hall. 2006.