The DOI matches its Crossref record; 33 of the 33 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
On the Overuse and Misuse of Mediation Analysis: It May Be a Matter of Timing
Abstract
Kenny (2008) credited Hyman (1955 Hyman, H. (1955). Survey design and analysis: Principles, cases and procedures. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press. [Google Scholar]) with originally discussing mediation analysis under the name elaboration. Of importance, Hyman's elaboration required a time-ordered relationship among variables, such that the mediator must always intervene in time between the predictor and outcome. However, in the modern discussions of mediation (e.g., Baron & Kenny, 1986 Baron, R., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Preacher & Hayes, 2004 Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 36, 717–731. doi:10.3758/bf03206553[Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar]), this crucial point about time-ordered relationships appears to be underemphasized. This article shows that by employing a conceptual timing criterion for all mediation analyses, the overuse of this technique can be curbed, and, simultaneously, researchers will understand when mediation analyses are appropriate across the behavioral and medical science literatures.
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“Moreover, post-test performance on untrained N-back preceded performance on Matrix Reasoning by one day, hence satisfying the recommendation that the mediator must intervene between the predictor and the outcome37.”
From Near transfer to an unrelated N-back task mediates the effect of N-back working memory training on matrix reasoning (2022) · cites this paper as [37]
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Cites
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SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2004) · Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers · doi:10.3758/bf03206553 · Cited by 17,383
MacKinnon, D. P., Fairchild, A. J., & Fritz, M. S. (2007) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085542 · Cited by 5,688
Equivalence of the Mediation, Confounding and Suppression Effect
MacKinnon, D. P., Krull, J. L., & Lockwood, C. M. (2000) · Prevention Science · doi:10.1023/a:1026595011371 · Cited by 4,188
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Process Analysis: Estimating Mediation in Treatment Evaluations
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
- 10.1037//0033-2909.108.2.314 · DOI · Paper page
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Unwarranted inferences from statistical mediation tests – An analysis of articles published in 2015
Fiedler, K., Harris, C., & Schott, M. (2017) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2017.11.008 · Cited by 419
The Effects of a Female Role Model on Academic Performance and Persistence of Women in STEM Courses
Herrmann, S. D., Adelman, R. M., Bodford, J. E., Graudejus, O., Okun, M. A., & Kwan, V. S. Y. (2016) · Basic and Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/01973533.2016.1209757 · Cited by 321
Wong, A. E., Dirghangi, S. R., & Hart, S. R. (2019) · Self and Identity · doi:10.1080/15298868.2018.1439096 · Cited by 178
Goodboy, A. K., & Kline, R. B. (2016) · Communication Research Reports · doi:10.1080/08824096.2016.1214121 · Cited by 149
The “true” indirect effect won't (always) stand up: When and why reverse mediation testing fails
Lemmer, G., & Gollwitzer, M. (2017) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2016.05.002 · Cited by 145
Metadata
- Authors
- Tate, C. U.
- Affiliations
- San Francisco State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Tate, Charlotte Ursula
- Venue
- Basic and Applied Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2015-07-04
- Volume
- 37
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 235-246
- ISSN
- 0197-3533 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-4834
- OpenAlex
- W1857078712
- Cited by
- 153
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 11.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Basic and Applied Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Advanced Causal Inference Techniques
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods and Bayesian Inference
- Keywords
- mediation analysis, elaboration, indirect effects
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