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When responding to your classmates, provide your perspective on whether the mediator or moderator is being interpreted and explained correctly.

Classmate1-AM

In the article, “On-Site Workforce Shortening The Week In Favour of Flexibility” by Michal Beno, Jozef Hvrecky and Speanka Jenseova, they looked at how COVID-19 had affected most of peoples work week schedules, even after having to go back in the office and the anxiety that came along with the people. Their hypothesis that they conduct was “Is working four days a week but earning a full salary: a dream or reality for many employees?” (Beno et al., 2022). They looked at three different countries (Austria, Czech Republic, and Slovakia) and took 200 participants who were on campus at their jobs and then used the app “WhatsApp” as the tool to look at the research. Their data was quantitative and then they looked at the research, they obtained the data of a four-day work week is a different attitude than having a five-day work week. This process was a mediator because of the wanting or the explaining of two variables to see if or how they are related.

They took participants from all three countries, male and females, and age ranges from 18-34, 35-49, 50+. The results showed that 54% of the participants were in favor for a shorter work week at their current employer, whereas 278 of the participants disagreed. The nature of the relationship between the mediator and the independent/dependent variable is known because it shows if there is a connection between the mentality of a four-day work week. In general, the describing of the mediator is the same as Baron and Kenny, it tells us the relationship and that the term is used in a broader causal system.

Beno, M., Hvorecky, J., & Jenesova, S. (2022). On-site workforce shortening the week in favour of flexibility.
Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research (JEECAR),
9(6), 1034–1045. https://doi.org/10.15549/jeecar.v9i6.1044

Classmate2-GF

The article, “Moderators and Mediators of Exercise-Induced Objective Sleep Improvements in Midlife and Older Adults With Sleep Complaints,” by Buman, Hekler, Bliwise, & King (2011) focuses on the effect of moderate-intensity exercise on sleep quality in older adults with sleep issues. The researchers explored the moderators (age, gender, physical activity, sleep quality, and physical function) and mediators (changes in negative affect, overweight, and physical function) of exercise-induced changes in objective sleep quality (Buman et al., 2011). In this study, the independent variable is exercise and the dependent variable is objective sleep. The nature of the relationship the moderator has between exercise and sleep varies depending on the moderating factors. For example, Buman et al. (2011) noted that the initial physical activity level was found to be the most consistent and strongest moderator of sleep but that gender and age were not. The mediator results suggest that depressive symptoms were found to mediate the percent time in the first sleep stage as well as the number of awakenings, while weight loss mediated the number of awakenings during the third stage of sleep (Buman et al., 2011). The results of the study suggest that the greatest objective sleep improvements from moderate-intensity exercise were seen in individuals who were initially inactive and relatively higher-functioning (Buman et al., 2011, p. 585), though these sleep improvements may be due to the decrease in depression symptoms, weight loss, and increased physical function. 

Buman et al. (2011) describe their moderators (age, gender, physical activity, sleep quality, and physical function) as third variables that affect the correlation between physical activity and sleep quality which fits with the process outlined by Baron and Kenny (1986) which describe moderators as qualitative or quantitative variables that affect the nature of the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. Additionally, Buman et al. (2011) use mediators (changes in negative affect, changes in weight, and changes in physical function) to explain the relationship between physical activity and improved sleep. For example, depression symptoms may mediate sleep improvements by reducing arousal. This also fits with the process outlined by Baron and Kenny (1986) which describes a variable as a mediator “to the extent that it accounts for the relation between the predictor and the criterion. Mediators explain how external physical events take on internal psychological significance…mediators speak to how or why such effects occur” (p. 1176).

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 Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173

Buman, M. P., Hekler, E. B., Bliwise, D. L., & King, A. C. (2011). Moderators and mediators of exercise-induced objective sleep improvements in midlife and older adults with sleep complaints.
Health Psychology, 30(5), 579–587. 
https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1037/a0024293