A. Definisi :
A variable which is postulated to be a predictor of one or more dependent variables, and
simultaneously predicted by one or more independent variables. Synonym : mediating
variable. (1)
A variable (as memory) whose effect occurs between the treatment in a psychological
experiment (as the presentation of a stimulus) and the outcome (as a response), is difficult to
anticipate or is unanticipated, and may confuse the results (2)
Menurut Tuckman (dalam Sugiyono, 2007) variabel intervening adalah variabel yang secara
teoritis mempengaruhi hubungan antara variabel independen dengan variabel dependen
menjadi hubungan yang tidak langsung dan tidak dapat diamati dan diukur. Variabel ini
merupakan variabel penyela / antara variabel independen dengan variabel dependen, sehingga
variabel independen tidak langsung mempengaruhi berubahnya atau timbulnya variabel
dependen.
A mediating variable is one which specifies how (or the mechanism by which) a given effect
occurs between an independent variable (IV) and a dependent variable (DV). (Holmbeck,
1997, p. 599).
Dari definisi ini, intervening (mediator) dikatakan memberikan pengaruh di antara IV dan
DV. Dapat merubah hasil, persamaannya adalah mediator variabel / variabel perantara, sulit
untukj diantisipasi, dll. Dimananakah posisinya ?? yaitu di tengah.
Perhatikan penjelasan berikut (cth variabel diambil dari buku Prof. Sugiyono, 2007) :
Penghasilan (IV) >
>
C. KESIMPULAN AKHIR
Ada lima hal yang menurut Paul Jose membingungkan dalam menjelaskan
variabel mediator dan moderator, yaitu :
1. Moderation and mediation sound alike. It makes it seem that they are very
similar, and or they derive from the same origin. They are somewhat
similar (cousins), but they dont come from the same place.
2. Second, statistics textbooks typically do not do a very good job of
explaining these two approaches. Exception: Howell (2006).
3. Third, reports of moderation and mediation in the research literature are
not always clear or accurately performed.
4. Both are special cases of two separate broad statistical approaches:
mediation is a special case of semi-partial correlations (path modeling)
and moderation is a special case of statistical interactions (from ANOVA).
Both are included under GLM, but this is not usually appreciated.