psychology in action

February 6, 2015 · Tawny Tsang

Mediating and
Moderating
Variables
Explained
What is the difference between a mediator
and a moderator? One of my former academic
advisors used to always say “be a walking
laboratory”. I think it’s a very poetic way of
describing a core feature of psychological
research—to come up with theories or
explanations for various phenomena we
observe. Sometimes there isn’t a clear-cut
relation between a dependent and
independent variable. In those cases, a
mediating variable or a moderating variable
can provide a more illustrative account of how
dependent (criterion) variables are related to

independent (predictor) variables.

A mediating variable explains the relation

between the independent (predictor) and the
dependent (criterion) variable. It explains how
or why there is a relation between two
variables. A mediator can be a potential
mechanism by which an independent variable
can produce changes on a dependent variable.
When you fully account for the effect of the
mediator, the relation between independent
and dependent variables may go away. For
instance, imagine that you find a positive
association between note-taking and
performance on an exam. This association
may be explained by number of hours
studying, which would be the mediating
variable.

A moderator is a variable that affects the

strength of the relation between the predictor
and criterion variable. Moderators specify
when a relation will hold. It can be qualitative
(e.g., sex, race, class…) or quantitative (e.g.,
drug dosage or level of reward). Moderating
variable are typically an interaction term in
statistical models. For instance, imagine
researchers are evaluating the effects of a new
cholesterol drug. The researchers vary the
participants in minutes of daily exercise
(predictor/independent variable) and measure

their cholesterol levels after 30 days

(criterion/dependent variable). They find that
at low drug doses, there is a small association
between exercise and cholesterol levels, but at
high drug doses, there is a huge association
between exercise and cholesterol levels. Drug
dosage moderates the association between
exercise and cholesterol levels.

Let’s look at some examples in psychological

research.

A recent paper by Frank, Amso, & Johnson

(2014) examined the developmental
relationship between early perceptual abilities
and face perception in infancy. In the study,
the authors tested visual search abilities of 3-,
6-, and 9-month-old infants. Infants were
shown panels of red rods against a black
background. One of the rods was either
slanted at a diagonal or moved back and forth.
Accuracy at looking at the slanted or moving
rod was calculated as “visual search
accuracy”. Infants also viewed excerpts from
Charlie Brown and Sesame Street and relative
amount of time spent viewing faces was
measured. They found that infants looked
more at faces and were more accurate at
identifying a moving target with age. This
effect was fully mediated by visual search
accuracy for moving rods. That is,

developmental improvements in visual search

accuracy fully accounted for the amount of
time infants looked at faces.

A great example of a moderator comes from

Cohen and Willis, 1985. In that study, the
authors proposed a stress-buffering
hypothesis. Prior research had suggested a
main effect of social support on quality of life.
However, Cohen and Willis demonstrated that
the relation between social support and
quality of life depends on an individual’s stress
level. Someone who experiences a lot of stress,
but has good social support, will show better
outcomes (fewer symptoms of depression,
anxiety, fatigue...) than someone with low
social support. Social support is the
moderating variable.
These examples should clarify the difference
between mediating and moderating variables.
Both types of variables provide interesting
explanatory means to describe psychological
phenomena.

0 1

COMMENTS (11)

Newest First Subscribe via e-mail

Preview Post Comment…

Ali 3 weeks ago · 0

Likes

This was so helpful. I wish this was a

paper so I could quote you directly
with a citation :-)
Hamezah
A month ago · 0 Likes

Very helpful

Elinesa E.
Abamonga
3 months ago · 0 Likes

Thank you for this wonderful input. I

am only looking for mediating variable
I found it with a bonus the moderating
variable.

Bigman James
4 months ago · 0 Likes

Thanks very much for the clear

explanation

Eugene A year ago

· 0 Likes

Please, I have a question. Do

moderating variables have to be
dispositional factors?

zana hassan
2 years ago · 0 Likes

thanks..very helpful..

Zohre 2 years ago ·

0 Likes

Excellent...thanks

Solomon
3 years ago · 0 Likes

I would like to appreciate your brief

and simple explanation.

Innocent
Mapulanga
3 years ago · 0 Likes

Very helpful information. Keep up with

the good work.

Narges 3 years ago

· 0 Likes

Thanks for your excellent explanation

 How to Take
Good Notes:
Go Low-Tech |
%yaldatuhls%
4 years ago · 0 Likes

[…] moderated the relationship

between note-taking method (by hand,
typed) and test performance. (See this
post for information on moderation
[…]

PREVIOUS

How do we see so many

colors on a digital screen?
NEXT

Theory of Mind: the Movie

Magic in You

FAQ