Chapter 6: Conditional Process Modeling: Using Structural Equation Modeling to Examine Contingent Causal Processes

There is much theoretical and applied value to research that attempts to establish whether there is a causal relation between two variables Xand Y. But establishing a causal association is rarely sufficient for broad understanding and application. We better understand some phenomenon and can better use that understanding when we can answer not only whether X affects Y, but also how X exerts its effect on Y, and when X affects Y and when it does not, or does so strongly as opposed to weakly. The “how” question relates to the underlying psychological, cognitive, or biological process, mechanism, or causal chain of events that links X to Y, whereas the “when” question pertains to what might be considered the boundary conditions of the causal association—under what circumstances, or for which types of people, does X exert an effect on Y and under what circumstances, or for which type of people, does X not exert an effect?