Lecture 7: Mediation

Question 1

What does mediation analysis help us understand?

Answer 1

How an independent variable affects a dependent variable through a mediator.

Question 2

What are the two types of effects in mediation?

Answer 2

Direct and indirect effects.

Question 3

What is an indirect effect in mediation?

Answer 3

The effect of the IV on the DV through a mediator.

Question 4

What example illustrates mediation involving gender?

Answer 4

Men overperceiving sexual interest due to their own sexual interest.

Question 5

What indicates full mediation?

Answer 5

The direct effect becomes non-significant after including the mediator.

Question 6

What indicates partial mediation?

Answer 6

The direct effect is reduced but remains significant.

Question 7

Who developed the causal steps approach to mediation?

Answer 7

Baron and Kenny.

Question 8

How many regression steps are in the causal steps method?

Answer 8

Four.

Question 9

What test is used to assess significance in the causal steps method?

Answer 9

Sobel test.

Question 10

What does Path A represent in mediation?

Answer 10

IV’s effect on the mediator.

Question 11

What does Path B represent in mediation?

Answer 11

Mediator’s effect on the DV.

Question 12

What does Path C represent?

Answer 12

Total effect of IV on DV.

Question 13

What does Path C’ represent?

Answer 13

Direct effect of IV on DV controlling for the mediator.

Question 14

What is a major limitation of the causal steps method?

Answer 14

It has low statistical power.

Question 15

How many participants might be needed to detect small effects using causal steps?

Answer 15

Up to 21,000.

Question 16

What assumption of the Sobel test is often violated?

Answer 16

Normality of the sampling distribution of the indirect effect.

Question 17

What type of method is bootstrapping?

Answer 17

Non-parametric resampling.

Question 18

What does bootstrapping generate for the indirect effect?

Answer 18

Confidence intervals.

Question 19

How many resamples are commonly used in bootstrapping?

Answer 19

5000

Question 20

What indicates a significant indirect effect in bootstrapping?

Answer 20

Zero is not in the confidence interval.

Question 21

What is one advantage of bootstrapping over causal steps?

Answer 21

Higher statistical power.

Question 22

How many participants are needed for bootstrapping with a medium effect?

Answer 22

About 71.

Question 23

What SPSS tool is used for bootstrapping mediation analysis?

Answer 23

PROCESS macro.

Question 24

Who developed the PROCESS macro?

Answer 24

Andrew Hayes.

Question 25

What types of predictors can PROCESS handle?

Answer 25

Continuous and categorical.

Question 26

What type must mediators be in PROCESS?

Answer 26

Continuous.

Question 27

What does PROCESS output include?

Answer 27

Path coefficients, confidence intervals, and optional Sobel test.

Question 28

Can PROCESS handle multiple mediators?

Answer 28

Yes.

Question 29

Can cross-sectional mediation establish causality?

Answer 29

No.

Question 30

What is needed to support causal claims in mediation?

Answer 30

Theory or multiple studies with causal evidence.

Question 31

What can threaten causal interpretation in mediation models?

Answer 31

Confounding variables like sociosexuality.

Question 32

What must be reported in mediation results?

Answer 32

All path coefficients and confidence intervals.

Question 33

What should be reported when using multiple mediators?

Answer 33

Total and specific indirect effects.

Question 34

What is the preferred method for mediation analysis today?

Answer 34

Bootstrapping.

Question 35

Why is bootstrapping preferred?

Answer 35

Greater validity and efficiency.

Question 36

What must researchers avoid when interpreting mediation?

Answer 36

Overstating causal claims.