Mediating Variables in Life

Cause and Effect:

Simple cause and effect.

Right?

Hang on. As described by Hume, a famous philosopher,

"We may define a CAUSE to be 'An object precedent and contiguous to another, and where all the objects resembling the former are plac'd in like relations of precedency and contiguity to those objects, that resemble the latter'" (1978 ed., p. 170).

He understands causality as no more than a concatination of events. Two events occurring in close sequence appear to be a cause & effect series.

However, as any of us who have learned contemporary behavioral theory know, cause and

effect, or two inter-related events, cannot be understood without the presence of a mediating variable.

"In general, a given variable may be said to function as a mediator to the extent that it accounts for the relation between the predictor and the criterion. Mediators explain how external physical events take on internal psychological significance. Whereas moderator variables specify when certain effects will hold, mediators speak to how or why such effects occur." p. 1176

In simpler language, a mediator can be defined as the mechanism of change.

Examined in light of our earlier example, we may say that:

The mediating variable discussed in Chazal. Our avoda is to remember this mechanism-of-change occuring behind the scenes. Who ever said schoolwork can't help us better understand our avodas Hashem?

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Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.