I am writing my research paper and I have noticed that the moderator variables of my model are not strongly theoretically supported. Just to clarify, there are articles explaining the phenomenas but there are a few articles supporting them as moderator effects. Indeed, I run the model on SPSS and SmartPLS and the results were statistically significant (With high validity & reliability results). However, I also have to find theories to support them as moderator variables since I am pursuing deductive approach.
If you know any academic article supporting the use of moderator variables with low number of theoretical support (or without support), kindly type them down so I go through them.
Dear Tiju,
Thank you for sharing these articles. They look highly valuable. Unfortunately, I did not find any support for weak theoretical of moderator effects/variables
Interesting question. I would argue that a) either you provide a potential theoretical background for the moderating variable or b) you don't incorporate the moderation effect at all if you are unable to provide the reader with a theoretical explanation for the found effects. Ultimately, it comes down to whether or not a researcher is bound to integrate as much significant variables as possible, or to select a few central variables with a strong theoretical background that are able to tell a theoretical story. Does the integration of the moderating variable change the relationship between the outcome variable and other predictors? Is there a suppression effect?