X - M is significant positive
M - Y is significant negative
I understand each of these regressions
however, my indirect effect is significant negative?
what does that mean?
Hej Mandy,
that is exactly what it is supposed to be, as your mediator ist negatively associated with your outcome. Thus, X has an indirect negative effect on Y mediated via its positive effect on M. So if X was manipulated experimentally you could maybe say, X reduced Y indirectly as it increased M. Just be careful with causal interpretation as this depends on your design. Also, you should look at the direct and total effects of X on Y as this will be more informative regarding the overall picture. It is possible to have a positive total effect of X on Y, and a negative indirect one via M. There could be other mediators at play (that you did not measure) that would then explain the positive indirect variance of X in Y. I would recommend reading Andrew Hayes: http://processmacro.org/index.html.
Hej Mandy,
that is exactly what it is supposed to be, as your mediator ist negatively associated with your outcome. Thus, X has an indirect negative effect on Y mediated via its positive effect on M. So if X was manipulated experimentally you could maybe say, X reduced Y indirectly as it increased M. Just be careful with causal interpretation as this depends on your design. Also, you should look at the direct and total effects of X on Y as this will be more informative regarding the overall picture. It is possible to have a positive total effect of X on Y, and a negative indirect one via M. There could be other mediators at play (that you did not measure) that would then explain the positive indirect variance of X in Y. I would recommend reading Andrew Hayes: http://processmacro.org/index.html.
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