A literature review and meta-analysis of causal mediation analysis in social psychology
Published in In progress paper (preregistered on OSF), 2024
Recommended citation: Kim, J., Thommes, F., & Ong, A. (2024). https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/DTK4H
This paper is about trend and the best practice of causal mediation in the field of social psychology. For several decades, researchers in the field of social psychology have used mediation analysis. Despite their popularity, traditional approaches like the Baron and Kenny or Preacher and Hayes models have limitations, including lack of formal causal definitions, and definitions of effects based on regression parameters. Recent advances focus on assumptions necessary for causal interpretations and statistical methods to address these limitations. However, many studies still use outdated methods without meeting the required assumptions for causal inference. This study aims to conduct a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of papers published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology between January 2022 and April 2024 to identify trends and suggest improvements in causal mediation analysis.