Moderating Variables (moderating + variable)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Examining Adolescents' Responses to Antimarijuana PSAs

HUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Issue 3 2003
Michael T. Stephenson
The research reported here investigated sensation seeking as a moderating variable of 368 adolescents' reactions to antimarijuana public service announcements. Participants rated the perceived message sensation value of 3 antimarijuana TV ads, their processing of the consequences of marijuana use, their affective responses to the ads, and antimarijuana attitudes. Two structural equation models,1 for high sensation seekers and the other for low sensation seekers,revealed 2 very different styles of processing the ads. Specifically, antimarijuana attitudes for high sensation seekers were influenced directly and indirectly by sympathetic distress and directly by argument-based processing. In contrast, antimarijuana attitudes for low sensation seekers were influenced solely by argument-based processing. [source]


Do conflict management styles affect group decision making?

HUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Issue 4 2000
Evidence from a longitudinal field study
This study examined the relationship between group conflict management styles and effectiveness of group decision making in 11 ongoing, naturally occurring workgroups from 2 large U.S. organizations. The major postulate of the study was that groups develop norms regarding how they will manage conflicts that carry over to affect other activities, such as decision making, even when these activities do not involve open conflict. To determine the impact of conflict management style on decision effectiveness, a longitudinal design was used that identified conflict management styles in the initial portion of each team's series of meetings and then analyzed a group decision taken in a meeting near the end of that series. Group conflict management styles were determined using observational methods, and decision effectiveness was measured using multiple indices that tapped member, facilitator, and external observer viewpoints. Task complexity also was considered as a possible moderating variable. The findings suggest that groups that developed integrative conflict management styles made more effective decisions than groups that utilized confrontation and avoidance styles. Groups that never developed a stable style were also less effective than groups with integrative styles. [source]


The Relation Between Past Behavior, Intention, Planning, and Quitting Smoking: The Moderating Effect of Future Orientation

JOURNAL OF APPLIED BIOBEHAVIORAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2007
Velibor Bobo Kova
The present study examined the moderating effects of two measures of future orientation on the relation between intention, planning, and past behavior on the one hand, and quitting smoking on the other. The degree of future orientation was assessed by the Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC) Scale and the Stanford Time Perspective Inventory (STPI). Both CFC and STPI significantly moderated the intention,quitting behavior and past behavior,quitting behavior relationships. CFC also moderated the relation between planning and quitting behavior, whereas STPI failed to moderate the planning,quitting relation. The results indicate that the extent to which a person is future oriented represents an important moderating variable when it comes to the relation between deliberative processes and actual behavior. The implications of the results are discussed. [source]


The impact of client treatment preferences on outcome: a meta-analysis

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2009
Joshua K. Swift
Abstract An important part of evidence-based practice is to include client preferences in the treatment decision-making process. However, based on previous reviews of the literature there is some question as to whether including client preferences actually has an effect on treatment outcome. This meta-analytic review summarized data from over 2,300 clients across 26 studies comparing the treatment outcome differences between clients matched to a preferred treatment and clients not matched to a preferred treatment. The findings indicate a small significant effect (r=.15, CI.95: .09 to .21) in favor of clients who received a preferred treatment. The binomial effect size indicated that matched clients have a 58% chance of showing greater improvement, and further analysis indicate that they are about half as likely to drop-out of treatment when compared with clients not receiving a preferred treatment. Study design was seen to be a moderating variable in that partially randomized preference trials may underestimate the treatment preference effect. Implications for best practice standards are discussed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 65:1,14, 2009. [source]


The determinants of export performance: A review of the research in the literature between 1998 and 2005

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT REVIEWS, Issue 4 2008
Carlos M.P. Sousa
Considerable attention has been paid to the determinants of export performance. However, despite this research effort in identifying and examining the influence of such determinants, the literature is characterized by fragmentation and diversity, hindering theory development and practical advancement in the field. This paper attempts to review and synthesize the knowledge on the subject. As a result, this study reviews and evaluates 52 articles published between 1998 and 2005 to assess the determinants of export performance. The assessment reveals that: (a) more studies have been conducted outside the USA; (b) the majority of the studies focus on manufacturing firms, with relatively few studies examining the service sector; (c) the majority of the export studies continue to focus on small to medium-sized firms; (d) there is a continuous increase in the sample size; (e) despite the problems that may arise from the use of single informants, it seems that none of the studies reviewed here collected data from more than one informant in the firm; (f) an increasing number of studies have been using the export venture as the unit of analysis; (g) the level of statistical sophistication has improved; (h) the use of control and moderating variables in export performance studies has increased; (i) more studies have started to include the external environment in their models, including domestic market characteristics; and (j) market orientation as a key determinant of export performance emerges in this review. Finally, conclusions are drawn, along with some suggestions for further research. [source]


Community violence exposure and delinquent behaviors among youth: The moderating role of coping

JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2003
Margaret Rosario
This study examines the moderating roles of guardian and peer support and behavioral coping strategies on the relations between youths' community violence exposure and their delinquent behavior. A sample of 667 public school sixth-graders in a large inner-city school district, and their parents or guardians, were interviewed to assess youths' recent exposure to community violence, their delinquent behavior, and proposed moderating variables. Support from guardians buffered the relation between girls' victimization by community violence and delinquency. Support from peers buffered the effects of witnessing community violence on delinquent behavior of boys, but it amplified the effects of victimization for both girls and boys. Avoidant coping behavior buffered the effect of victimization on delinquency for boys but unexpectedly amplified the effect of witnessing violence on delinquency for girls. For both genders, confrontational coping strategies amplified the impact of victimization on delinquency and, for boys only, amplified the impact of witnessing violence as well. Controls were imposed for variables expected to influence the relation between exposure and delinquency, such as ethnicity, family violence, delinquent behavior of friends, and recruitment cohort. Suggestions for future research and implications for intervention are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 31: 489,512, 2003. [source]


The Role of Socioregional Factors in Moderating Genetic Influences on Early Adolescent Behavior Problems and Alcohol Use

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 10 2009
Danielle M. Dick
Background:, Twin and family studies have demonstrated that adolescent alcohol use and behavior problems are influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. More recently, studies have begun to investigate how genetic and environmental influences may interact, with efforts underway to identify specific environmental variables that moderate the expression of genetic predispositions. Previously, we have reported that community-level factors, including urban/rural residency, migration rates, and prevalence of young adults, moderate the importance of genetic effects on alcohol use in late adolescence (ages 16 to 18). Here, we extend these findings to test for moderating effects of these socioregional factors on alcohol use and behavior problems assessed in a younger sample of adolescent Finnish twins. Methods:, Using data from the population-based Finnish twin study, FinnTwin12, biometric twin models were fit to data on >1,400 twin pairs to examine the significance of each of the socioregional moderating variables on alcohol use measured at age 14, and behavior problems, measured at age 12. Results:, We find no evidence of a moderating role of these socioregional variables on alcohol use; however, there was significant moderation of genetic influences on behavior problems, with effects limited to girls. Genetic influences assumed greater importance in urban settings, communities with greater migration, and communities with a higher percentage of slightly older adolescents. Conclusions:, The moderation effects observed on behavior problems in early adolescence paralleled the effects found on alcohol use late in adolescence in an independent sample, providing further support for the idea that behavior problems may represent an earlier manifestation of the predisposition to subsequent alcohol problems. Our findings also support the growing body of evidence suggesting that females may be more susceptible to a variety of environmental influences than males. [source]


A meta-analysis of the verbal overshadowing effect in face identification

APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2001
Christian A. Meissner
Recent studies have demonstrated that requesting individuals to produce a verbal description of a previously seen face can hinder subsequent attempts at identification. This phenomenon, termed ,verbal overshadowing', has been studied rather extensively in the face-identification paradigm; however, studies have not always replicated the general effect. Based upon both practical and theoretical interests in the phenomenon, a meta-analysis of 29 effect size comparisons (N,=,2018) was conducted. Across the sample of studies there was a small, yet significant, negative effect (Fisher's Zr,=,,0.12), indicating some degree of verbal impairment or overshadowing. A fixed-effects analysis of several moderating variables demonstrated a significant effect of post-description delay and type of description instruction. The pattern of means indicated that overshadowing effects were more likely to occur when the identification task immediately followed the description task, and when participants were given an elaborative, as opposed to a standard (free recall), instruction during the description task. Inconsistencies in the literature are discussed, as well as various theoretical and applied issues regarding the verbal overshadowing effect. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Occupational Stress and Psychological Well-Being in Emergency Services

ASIAN SOCIAL WORK AND POLICY REVIEW, Issue 3 2009
Mohd Dahlan A. Malek
Sources of occupational stress and their impact on job satisfaction and psychological well-being were examined in a questionnaire survey of 617 Malaysian firefighters. The role of coping strategies and work motivation as moderating factors were also tested. Sources of occupational stress had significant reverse correlations with job satisfaction and well-being. The hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the moderating effect of work motivation and coping strategies on job satisfaction and psychological well-being. The result suggested that coping strategies and work motivation are one of the potential moderating variables between sources of stress and job satisfaction. [source]