I performed a moderation test and I found a significant moderation effect. The post hoc tests showed that both +1SD and -1SD lines are significant. How can I interpret this? Is it correct to assume that any levels of the moderator can increase (in my case) the relationship between x and z? Can I assume a moderating effect for the variable that was entered as a moderator?
Hi,
(1) your moderation (interaction between the predictor and the moderator) is significant, so you can assume a moderating effect, of course.
(2) at +1SD and –1SD of your moderator, the slope of your predictor is significantly positive. So at these levels of your moderator, the association between x (predictor) and z (criterion) is positive, but I guess that the magnitude of the slopes differs. What you describe is a quantitative moderation or ordinal interaction. This means that for high and for low levels of your moderator, the effect has the same direction (positive), but a significantly different value.
Hi,
I found this video very helpful in interpreting the results of moderation analysis. Hope it be helpful for you too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vcUtzPDGrw
The video name is moderation analyses with simple slopes in SPSS
Also this paper reported the results of the moderation analysis in a way that I found informative:
Bailey, R., Wells, A. (2015). Metacognitive beliefs moderate the relationship between catastrophic misinterpretation and health anxiety, Journal of Anxiety Disorders
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