The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction - Essay Example

Article: Paustian-Underdahl, S. C., Lisa, S. W. and Woehr, D. (2014). Gender and Perceptions of Leadership Effectiveness: A Meta-Analysis of Contextual Moderators Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(6): 1129-1145.

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A moderator is a variable that is capable of influencing the direction or strength of the relationship between other variables. Moderators are useful in situations that require understanding conditions under which a specific effect can be expected in a relationship. Moderator variables can weaken or strengthen a relationship or change the direction of the relationship (Baron & Kenny, 1986). The study by Paustian-Underdahl, Lisa, and Woehr (2014) uses moderation variables to explain gender differences in perceptions about the effectiveness of leadership in organizations. The article is based on emerging concerns that despite overwhelming evidence that men are perceived to be more effective leaders than women, there are potentials for female leadership advantages. The strongest evidence for this potentiality, according to the authors, is the fact that in the past few years, the percentage of women in the workplace has increased significantly. Studies show that women have in the recent years moved up the organizational ladder and are now occupying positions in many organizations across industries. This lends credibility to the argument that women have strong leadership skills as men.

The authors have identified several moderating factors that influence gender differences in the perceptions of leadership effectiveness. These moderating factors are time of the study; organizational type; organizational hierarchy and level; the context of the study; the proportion of male raters in a study and rating source. To analyze the effects of these moderating factors, the authors used multiple statistical methods including the 75% rule and chi-square testing. In addition, regression analyses were also used. With regard to the variable of time of the study as a moderating factor, the study revealed no significant correlation between time of the study and perceived effectiveness of leadership. The researchers had hypothesized that there would be greater gender differences in older studies and small gender differences in newer studies. No indication was found to back the hypothesis. This implies that perceived differences in gender are likely to be stable over time, subject to lack of external intervening variables.

Regarding the variable of the organizational type as a moderator, the authors had hypothesized that the extent to which an organization is dominated by males has a direct influence on gender differences in the perceptions of leadership effectiveness. In other words, the hypothesis projected that males are more likely to hold strong opinions about the effectiveness of women leadership in organizations. To test this moderating factor, secondary data was used and showed strong evidence in support of the hypothesis. For the moderating factor of the organizational hierarchy, it was hypothesized that hierarchical level exhibits correlation with perceptions of leadership effectiveness. Results of the analysis revealed partial consistency with the hypothesis, implying that the level of organizational hierarchy or the position that an individual occupies is not a strong moderating factor for perceptions of leadership effectiveness.

The context of the study as a variable did not reveal any significant moderating effects on the relationship between gender and effectiveness in organizational leadership. Thus, the hypothesis that gender differences will be greater in office settings than in laboratory settings was not supported. This means that the situation under which research is conducted is not a significant moderating factor in studies about the gender differences in perceived leadership effectiveness. Regarding the proportion of male raters in a study, it was hypothesized that there would be no linear relationship between this variable and gender perceptions. Analysis of data supported the hypothesis meaning that in any research study of gender perception of leadership effectiveness, the percentage of male raters in the study is a strong moderating variable. Under the variable of rating source, the researchers examined the effects of using self-ratings on an individual's perception of gender differences in leadership effectiveness. The variable revealed that men rated themselves as more effective leaders than women did. When analyzing other sources of effectiveness rating (peers, bosses, subordinates and managers), women were rated as being more effective leaders than men. These results show that the source of the rating is a strong moderating factor in differences in leadership perceptions.

Using moderation in research studies has pros and cons. The main advantage of using moderating variables is that they explain when a relationship is likely to occur as well as the strength of correlation among variables. For example, it can show when a change in a particular variable is likely to cause a significant change in a relationship in the absence of external effects. This is an important consideration because researchers in most cases seek to determine the existence of relationships between a phenomenon and its supposed causal factors (Baron & Kenny, 1986). Moderating variables help researchers to determine conclusively that there indeed is (or lack of) a significant relationship between variables being tested. The main disadvantage of moderation is that it cannot explain the circumstances under which or possible ways through which the relationship will occur. Thus a researcher using moderating variables can only tell if there is a relationship between variables but cannot explain the nature of the relationship. This limitation makes moderation less ideal for use in situations that require explaining the effect of intervening factors in a relationship.

Mediation

Article: Kantabutra, S. and Avery, G.C. (2006). Follower effects in the visionary leadership process. Journal of International Business & Economics Research, 4(5):57-66.

In research, mediation variables are those that specify how and why a particular effect will occur. Essentially, mediation explores the psychological processes that cause a relationship to occur. These processes include dynamic attributes of individuals such as behaviors, emotions, and beliefs. Thus, mediators are external intervening variables that systematically influence the direction, form or strength of a relationship between the criterion and predictor variable. When mediating variables are strong, they can significantly suppress the effects of moderating factors to the extent of creating a new explanation for a phenomenon. In most cases, mediation variables are used alongside moderating variables to explain the nature of relationships between the different factors in a phenomenon (Nima, Rosenberg, Archer & Garcia, 2013).

In the article by Kantabutra and Avery (2006), the authors explored followers vision of the leaders and their effects on organizational performance. In this study, organizational performance is the predictor variable while visionary leadership is the criterion variable. Followers commitment to the leaders vision is the mediating variable. Effectively, the researchers investigated the role of the follower (mediating variable) in the effectiveness of the visionary leadership process. By using followers role as the mediating factor, the researchers sought to determine how and to what extent followers attitudes affect the relationship between leadership skills and organizational performance. The research was limited to the context of retail stores but provides a more generalized understanding of the significance of this mediating variable in other organizational settings.

The researchers determined the extent to which a leaders vision inspired emotional commitment from the followers in organizations. The authors hypothesized that if followers perceived a leaders vision to be good for the organization, they would be committed to supporting the vision and that this would lead to high levels of organizational performance. In the converse, if followers had a low opinion of the leaders vision, they would not support the vision and this would have a deleterious impact on organizational performance. As is the case, leaders are expected to set a clear vision for their organizations, one that inspires them to work towards specified common objective. By hypothesizing the variables this way, the authors sought to show how followers perception of vision plays a mediating role in clarifying the relationship between leadership and organizational performance.

The study found that the mediating variable had a strong influence on the relationship between leadership effectiveness and organizational performance. The variable not only explained why visionary leaders excel in their roles but showed that organization scan gain immense benefits if they are led by visionary leaders. Espousing a powerful vision results in positive effects on the performance of organizations. As the authors report, organizations with visionary leaders who set realistic visions are associated with enhanced performance on all fronts including financial and human resource. The study also revealed that followers who embraced their leaders vision reported high levels of job satisfaction, which is an important aspect of organizational performance. This implies that a leaders vision plays a significant role in organizations. Without vision, organizations cannot achieve desired objectives even if they are led by the best leaders.

The study also revealed that the more followers use their leaders vision as a guide for daily activities, the more improved the organizational performance as determined by among other factors staff satisfaction. This is partly because followers are clear about the long-term strategic direction of the organization and follow it in their actions and responsibilities. Moreover, followers commitment to the leader is positively related to improved customer satisfaction. The leaders vision motivates employees to serve customers more diligently, which in turn leads to improved organizational performance. This suggests that the more followers believe in their leaders vision, the higher the level of customer satisfaction. Therefore, leaders looking to change their organizations positively must aspire to cultivate strong emotional commitment. Thus, mediation variables play a significant role in explaining relationships underpinning phenomenon even in cases where moderating factors have a strong influence.

The above analysis has shown that mediation can be used successfully to explain the nature of relationships between variables in a phenomenon. The most important advantage of using mediation is that associated variables can be applied to explain the nature of relationships in situations where intervening effects exists between variables (Nima, Rosenberg, Archer & Garcia, 2013). For example, in the above journal article, the goal was to determine the effect of leadership vision on organizational performance. In this case, the role of followers played an intervening effect which helped in underpinning the nature of this relationship. The main drawback of mediation is that it does not have the ability to change the direction or affect the relationship between variables. As such, mediation cannot be used in models that are highly contextual or in situations where relationships remain stable over a set of variables.

References

Baron, R.M. & Kenny, D.A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Ps...