Question

A moderator effect occurs when the moderator (an independent variable or construct) changes the strength or even the direction of a relationship between two constructs in the model. There are two types of moderating relationships: continuous and categorical.

Analyze ONE (1) major difference between continuous and categorical moderating relationships.

Answer 1

Moderation refers to a change in the relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable, depending on the level of a third variable, termed the moderator variable. Moderating effects are also referred to as interaction and conditioning effects. For two continuous variables, moderation means that the slope of the relationship between the independent and dependent variable varies (i.e., increases or decreases) according to the level of the moderator variable. For two categorical variables, moderation means that the difference between the group means for the categorical independent variable differ depending on group membership on the moderator variable.

For a continuous independent variable and a categorical moderator variable, moderation means that the slope of the relationship between the independent and dependent variable differs across the groups represented by the categorical moderator variable.For a categorical independent variable and a continuous moderator variable, moderation means that the differences between the group means represented by the levels of the categorical independent variable differ according to the level of the moderator variable.