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1、JournalofPe~nalityandSocialPsychologyCopyright1986bytheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,Inc.1986,Vol.51,No.6,1173-11820022-3514/86/$00.75TheModerator-MediatorVariableDistinctioninSocialPsychologicalResearch:Conceptual,Strategic,andStatisticalConsiderationsReubenM.BaronandDavidA.KennyUniversityofC
2、onnecticutInthisarticle,weattempttodistinguishbetweenthepropertiesofmoderatorandmediatorvariablesatanumberoflevels.First,weseektomaketheoristsandresearchersawareoftheimportanceofnotusingthetermsmoderatorandmediatorinterchangeablybycarefullyelaborating,bothconcep-tuallyandstrategically,themanyways
3、inwhichmoderatorsandmediatorsdiffer.Wethengobeyondthislargelypedagogicalfunctionanddelineatetheconceptualandstrategicimplicationsofmakinguseofsuchdistinctionswithregardtoawiderangeofphenomena,includingcontrolandstress,attitudes,andpersonalitytraits.Wealsoprovideaspecificcompendiumofanalyticproced
4、uresap-propriateformakingthemosteffectiveuseofthemoderatorandmediatordistinction,bothsepa-ratelyandintermsofabroadercausalsystemthatincludesbothmoderatorsandmediators.Thepurposeofthisanalysisistodistinguishbetweenthecalfunctionofthisarticleistoclarifyforexperimentalre-propertiesofmoderatorandmedi
5、atorvariablesinsuchawaysearcherstheimportanceofrespectingthesedistinctions.astoclarifythedifferentwaysinwhichconceptualvariablesThisisnot,however,thecentralthrustofouranalysis.Rather,mayaccountfordifferencesinpeoples'behavior.Specifically,ourmajoremphasisisoncontrastingthemoderator-mediatorwediff
6、erentiatebetweentwooften-confusedfunctionsofthirdfunctionsinwaysthatdelineatetheimplicationsofthisdistinc-variables:(a)themoderatorfunctionofthirdvariables,whichtionfortheoryandresearch.Wefocusparticularlyonthepartitionsafocalindependentvariableintosubgroupsthates-differentialimplicationsforchoic
7、eofexperimentaldesign,re-tablishitsdomainsofmaximaleffectivenessinregardtoagivensearchoperations,andplanofstatisticalanalysis.dependentvariable,and(b)themediatorfunctionofathirdWealsoclaimthatthereareconceptualimplicat