Meta-analytic Structural Equation Modeling Research Articles

Investigating the Relationship Between Leadership for Learning and Student Achievement Through the Mediation of Teacher Performance: A Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling (MASEM) Approach

The Leadership for Learning (LfL) framework is often used to investigate the effect of leadership on student achievement (SA). This framework encompasses instructional leadership (IL), transformational leadership (TL), and distributed leadership (DL) qualities that are likely to influence teaching–learning processes at school. The existing literature indicates that LfL can influence both teacher performance and practices and students’ achievement significantly. The current study aims to investigate the mediating role of teacher performance in the relationship between LfL and student achievement using meta-analytical structural equation modeling (MASEM). Correlation values obtained from 60 studies (a total of 36,331 participants) investigating the relationship between these variables were used for the meta-analysis. The findings showed that all three types of leadership affected teacher performance directly, and teacher performance had a direct effect on student achievement. While the effect of IL on SA was mostly indirect, TL and DL were found to affect student achievement both directly and indirectly through teacher performance. Our findings suggest significant implications for not only researchers but also policy-makers and practitioners to improve school performance.

Academic Cheating, Achievement Orientations, and Culture Values: A Meta-Analysis

This preregistered meta-analysis investigated whether cultural values moderate the relations between students’ achievement orientations and their tendency to cheat. We identified 80 studies on the associations between performance/learning orientations and academic cheating in 27 countries with 40,867 participants. Performance orientation positively correlates with academic cheating ( r = .09, 95% CI = 0.04 to 0.13), and learning orientation negatively correlates with academic cheating ( r = −.16, 95% CI = −0.20 to –0.13). Univariate meta-analysis, hierarchical meta-regression, and meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) revealed that cultural values at the country level significantly moderate the relations between achievement orientations and cheating. These findings suggested that cultural values play a significant role in influencing the relations between achievement orientations and academic cheating, and, thus, cheating prevention programs must consider culture to achieve optimal effects. Based on these findings, we propose a new model that integrates cultural values into the existing model of academic cheating decision-making.

A Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modelling (MASEM) Approach Toward Scrutinizing the Influence of Brand Equity Antecedents on Brand Advocacy

Brand equity antecedents are essential in the creation and development of brand advocacy strategies and implementation tactics that transform conventional customers into active brand advocates. Yet, the association incorporating these two concepts is less studied. This research aims to bridge such a gap by combining these two approaches to explore the most influential antecedents of brand equity for incentivizing brand advocacy within technological platforms. The proposed model was assessed using Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling (MASEM). The study featured 68 empirical studies with 183 correlations derived from 15 hypothetical ‎relationships and a combined sample of 24,585 respondents. The findings authenticate the significance of all the relationships among BE antecedents proposed in this study. Moreover, the findings reveal that brand awareness can be linked with brand advocacy via the intervention and mediating role of brand image. Additionally, the outcomes of the study highlight that brand image has a greater overall influence than brand loyalty on brand advocacy.

Meta-analytic structural equation modeling for exploring workplace friendship, well-being, and organizational commitment.

Workplace friendships, which are informal relationships in the workplace, foster mutual trust, assistance, and emotional support and create a sense of belonging among coworkers. Employees with positive perceptions of their job responsibilities, psychological needs, and work environment experience happiness, satisfaction, and an overall sense of well-being. A heightened sense of well-being in the workplace positively affects employee satisfaction with job tasks and the work environment, reinforcing employees' sense of belonging and organizational commitment. The study proposed and validated a theoretical model, with meta-analytic structural equation modeling employed to conduct quantitative, empirical research on workplace friendships, well-being, and organizational commitment in Taiwan and to analyze correlations between relevant variables. The theoretical model was further validated through structural equation modeling, which yielded favorable goodness of fit in terms of various indicators. The mediating effect of well-being was verified through bootstrapping analysis. Within a 95% confidence interval, the total effect size of workplace friendships on organizational commitment was 0.549, which is the sum of its direct effect (0.255) and indirect effect (0.294). This finding indicates that well-being plays a mediating role in the association between workplace friendships and organizational commitment. The proposed theoretical model in this study is supported. Finally, the research results are discussed, and practical suggestions are provided.

Watch That Attitude! Examining the Role of Attitude in the Technology Acceptance Model through Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modelling

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), proposed by Fred Davis in 1986, is a foundational framework for understanding technology adoption, emphasizing Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Perceived Usefulness (PU) as key determinants of Intention to Use (ITU). While Attitude Toward Using (ATU) was initially central to TAM, it was later omitted in iterations like TAM2 and UTAUT. This paper revisits the role of ATU within TAM, employing One-Step Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modelling (OSMASEM) to analyze educational technology acceptance. The findings reveal that ATU significantly mediates the relationship between PEOU, PU, and ITU, enhancing the explanatory power of TAM. By comparing models with and without ATU (TAM-O and TAM-R), the findings demonstrate that incorporating ATU provides a more comprehensive understanding of user behavior, particularly in voluntary use contexts. The study underscores the importance of attitudes in technology adoption and suggests that future TAM iterations should consider ATU to improve predictive accuracy. This research contributes to theoretical advancements in TAM and offers practical insights for enhancing technology acceptance in educational settings.

The impact of green supply chain management on corporate performance under the full process model: A MASEM analysis based on heterogeneous moderation

This study explores the impact of green supply chain management on corporate performance, focusing on environmental, economic, operational, and social outcomes. Using Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling, we analyzed data from 98 quantitative studies conducted since 2001. Our findings demonstrate that green supply chain management practices significantly enhance corporate performance. We also identify key moderating factors, such as industry diversity, company size, geographical location, economic development, cultural level, and logistics performance, that influence the effectiveness of green supply chain management. The study highlights the importance of tailoring green supply chain management initiatives to specific industry and regional contexts, providing actionable insights and policy recommendations for promoting sustainable development in the Carbon Trading Era.

From Humble Leadership to Follower Performance: A Meta-analysis of Relational and Cognitive Mechanisms

Unclarity remains in current literature pertaining to the effects and specific processes of humble leadership, calling for more in-depth reviews for boosting the understanding. Our research focuses on follower performance as an important outcome of humble leadership and aims to conduct a meta-analysis to uncover the mechanisms beneath the effecting process. Integrating social exchange theory and social cognitive theory, we proposed that follower's relationship with the leader and their belief in themselves, respectively acting as relational and cognitive mechanisms, would sequentially mediate the relationship between humble leadership and follower performance, including task performance and organizational citizenship behavior. We adopted meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) to examine our hypotheses and gained empirical support from the results. With the synthesis of literature, this article exerts to unfold the effecting process and potential mechanisms of humble leadership on follower performance, anticipating to make several theoretical contributions and practical implications as well as providing insights for future research.

The mediating effect of resilience between physical activity and mental health: a meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach.

While the correlation between physical activity (PA) and mental health is well known, the mediating mechanism of resilience between the two variables remains unclear. To systematically evaluate the relationship between PA and mental health, and explore the mediating role of resilience between them. A systematic search of electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, ProQuest, Ebsco, China Knowledge, and China Biomedical Database) was conducted to identify relevant studies, and meta-analytic procedures were used to assess the strength of the relationships between PA and mental health. Furthermore, a meta-analytic structural equation model (MASEM) was used to assess the mediating effects of resilience, ensuring the reliability of our findings. The findings of 15 studies (17,043 subjects) were subjected to meta-analysis and route analysis. The findings of the meta-analysis revealed a statistically significant positive correlation of 0.288 (95% CI, 0.166-0.402) between PA and positive indicators of mental health, as well as a statistically significant negative correlation (95% CI, -0.342 to -0.171) with negative indicators of mental health. Furthermore, the results of MASEM path analysis indicated that PA may indirectly impact both positive and negative indicators of mental health through the mediating factor of resilience. The indirect effect values were 0.108 (95% CI, 0.080-0.141) and -0.074 (95% CI, -0.100 to -0.051), respectively, accounting for 40.15% of the total effect value and 28.91%. Physical activity is positively correlated with positive indicators of mental health and negatively correlated with negative indicators of mental health. Moreover, PA can positively influence mental health through the mediating role of resilience.

A Cautionary Note on Using Univariate Methods for Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling

Meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) is an increasingly popular technique in psychology, especially in management and organizational psychology. MASEM refers to fitting structural equation models (SEMs), such as path models or factor models, to meta-analytic data. The meta-analytic data, obtained from multiple primary studies, generally consist of correlations across the variables in the path or factor model. In this study, we contrast the method that is most often applied in management and organizational psychology (the univariate-r method) to several multivariate methods. “Univariate-r” refers to performing multiple univariate meta-analyses to obtain a synthesized correlation matrix as input in an SEM program. In multivariate MASEM, a multivariate meta-analysis is used to synthesize correlation matrices across studies (e.g., generalized least squares, two-stage SEM, one-stage MASEM). We conducted a systematic search on applications of MASEM in the field of management and organizational psychology and showed that reanalysis of the four available data sets using multivariate MASEM can lead to different conclusions than applying univariate-r. In two simulation studies, we show that the univariate-r method leads to biased standard errors of path coefficients and incorrect fit statistics, whereas the multivariate methods generally perform adequately. In the article, we also discuss some issues that possibly hinder researchers from applying multivariate methods in MASEM.

The impact of corporate social responsibility on employee outcomes in the hospitality industry: A multi-motive and cross-cultural meta-analysis

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the hospitality industry has received increased attention from both practitioners and researchers in the past two decades, due in part to growing concerns regarding hospitality operations' impact on the environmental, social, and economic well-being of their communities. While research has enhanced our understanding of CSR's influence on hospitality employees, an integrated literature synthesis is still needed. Leveraging the multi-motive CSR framework, we aim to (1) synthesize CSR's impact on hospitality employee outcomes (i.e., performance, job satisfaction, and organizational identification); (2) investigate how the instrumental, relational, and moral motives of employees mediate the CSR–employee performance relationship; and (3) test how country-level factors moderate the relationship between CSR employee outcomes. Meta-analytic results using 87 studies, 33,567 individuals, and 160 effect sizes show a positive relationship between CSR and employee outcomes. Further exploring the multi-motive framework, meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) results show that instrumental, relational, and moral motives fully mediated the CSR–employee performance relationship. Additionally, results of subgroup tests indicate that the CSR–employee outcome relationship was stronger for employees working in highly developed countries and horizontal-individualistic cultures. Our findings highlight how CSR enhances employee performance through underlying psychological mechanisms, with implications for theory and practice.

Fifteen Years of Research on Customer Loyalty Formation: A Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Model

Despite extensive research on loyalty formation, findings regarding interrelationships between loyalty and its key drivers, such as perceived service quality, perceived value, and customer satisfaction, are inconclusive and often contradictory. To provide more definitive statements about these relationships, we synthesized and analyzed findings from 153 articles published in eight top-tier tourism and hospitality journals between 2006 and 2020 using meta-analytic structural equation modeling. We also confirmed that five- and seven-point Likert-type scales did not generate significant differences in the effect size of correlational measures. A further comparison of four theoretically postulated competing models strongly supports the full mediation model. Our results suggest that customer satisfaction fully mediates the effects of perceived service quality and perceived value on customer loyalty, whereas perceived service quality directly influences perceived value. This study contributes to the literature by reconciling and synthesizing inconclusive findings from prior research.

Assessing Heterogeneity of Correlation Matrices in Misspecified Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Models

Meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) techniques are increasingly common tools to synthesize data across multiple studies. One popular approach is two-step MASEM, where study correlation matrices are pooled in a first stage using either a fixed- or random-effects model, to then fit one or multiple structural equation models onto the pooled correlation matrix in a second stage. In a simulation study, we examined the performance of different fit criteria and resulting parameter estimates under both random- and fixed-effects pooling when fitting a three-factor CFA model to study populations that were partly misspecified. We discuss benefits and issues when using a random-effects model in this scenario and discuss future research directions regarding correlation matrix heterogeneity when using MASEM methods.

Emotion Processing and Its Relationship to Social Functioning and Symptoms in Psychotic Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Emotion processing (EP) is impaired in individuals with psychosis and associated with social functioning; however, it is unclear how symptoms fit into this relationship. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine interrelationships between EP, symptoms, and social functioning, test whether different symptom domains mediate the relationship between EP and social functioning, and examine the moderating effects of illness stage and EP task type. MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO databases were searched for studies that included individuals with psychosis and reported correlations between EP, symptom domains (positive, negative, depressive, and disorganization), and social functioning. Random effects meta-analyses determined the strength of correlations, and subgroup analyses included illness stage and EP task type (lower- vs higher-level processing). Meta-analytic structural equation models tested whether symptom domains mediated the relationship between EP and social functioning. There was a small relationship (r = .18) between EP and social functioning. Positive, negative, and disorganization symptoms mediated this relationship, although indirect effects were small. Higher-level EP tasks were more strongly associated with negative symptoms than lower-level tasks. Relationships between EP and both social functioning and positive symptoms were smaller in the first episode of psychosis than in established illness. The mediating relationship suggests that EP not only influences social dysfunction directly but contributes to negative and disorganization symptoms, which in turn impair social functioning. This pathway suggests that targeting negative and disorganization symptoms may ultimately improve social outcomes for individuals with psychosis. Future research, particularly in early psychosis, is needed to determine other factors impacting these interrelationships.

Checking the inventory: Illustrating different methods for individual participant data meta-analytic structural equation modeling.

Researchers may have at their disposal the raw data of the studies they wish to meta-analyze. The goal of this study is to identify, illustrate, and compare a range of possible analysis options for researchers to whom raw data are available, wanting to fit a structural equation model (SEM) to these data. This study illustrates techniques that directly analyze the raw data, such as multilevel and multigroup SEM, and techniques based on summary statistics, such as correlation-based meta-analytical structural equation modeling (MASEM), discussing differences in procedures, capabilities, and outcomes. This is done by analyzing a previously published collection of datasets using open source software. A path model reflecting the theory of planned behavior is fitted to these datasets using different techniques involving SEM. Apart from differences in handling of missing data, the ability to include study-level moderators, and conceptualization of heterogeneity, results show differences in parameter estimates and standard errors across methods. Further research is needed to properly formulate guidelines for applied researchers looking to conduct individual participant data MASEM.

Customer mistreatment and employees’ coping strategies: A Meta-SEM analysis

Despite the numerous studies on customer mistreatment, our understanding of the effectiveness of coping strategies for customer mistreatment remains limited. This research provides a meta-analytic structural equation modeling (meta-SEM) analysis to explore the distinctive coping types that employees may use when encountering customer mistreatment, as well as the subsequent outcomes. Drawing on the regulatory focus theory and the coping toward customer mistreatment, we categorize various coping strategies into three types (i.e., goal-oriented promotive coping, confrontation-oriented promotive coping, and preventive coping), and propose that these coping types have differential relationships with outcomes. Through a meta-SEM analysis based on 143 articles and 155 independent samples (N = 44,378), we found that these three coping types significantly mediated the mistreatment–outcomes relationships, and that goal-oriented promotive coping was a more beneficial type of coping. This research provides significant implications for employees and organizations to effectively cope with customer mistreatment.

How can we further explore the link between self-criticism and self-compassion, and disordered eating? Commentary on Paranjothy and Wade's (2024).

Paranjothy and Wade's (2024, A meta-analysis of disordered eating and its association with self-criticism and self-compassion. International Journal of Eating Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.24166) systematic review and meta-analysis of disordered eating and its association with self-criticism and self-compassion provides a valuable synthesis of 135 studies. They found that greater levels of self-criticism and increased disordered eating were associated with lower levels of self-compassion. These findings highlight the importance of further investigating the complex relationship between these variables to inform effective interventions. This commentary explores what the findings of Paranjothy and Wade (2024) tell us and how we can use their findings to address unresolved problems. I will focus on two primary areas in this commentary: (1) the specificity of self-criticism and (2) how we could use existing data to enhance the understanding of the etiology and maintenance of disordered eating in relation to self-criticism and self-compassion to conduct further research. This commentary argues that there is a need for refinement of the self-criticism construct (e.g., through qualitative research) to understand how self-criticism varies across different individuals and cultures, particularly for under-researched populations. I recommend further research using meta-analytic structural equation modeling to test different theoretical models to pin down how self-criticism and self-compassion function as mechanisms of change in disordered eating.

Addressing Endogeneity in Meta-Analysis: Instrumental Variable Based Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling

In management research, meta-analysis is often used to aggregate findings from observational studies that lack random assignment to predictors (e.g., surveys), which may pose challenges in making accurate inferences due to the correlational nature of effect sizes. To improve inferential accuracy, we show how instrumental variable (IV) methods can be integrated into meta-analysis to help researchers obtain unbiased estimates. Our IV-based meta-analytic structural equation modeling (IV-MASEM) method relies on the fact that IVs can be incorporated into SEM, and meta-analytic effect sizes from correlational research can be used for MASEM. Conveniently, IV-MASEM does not require that each primary study measures all relevant variables, and it can address typical types of endogeneity, such as omitted variable bias. We clarify how the principles of IV-SEM can be applied to MASEM and then conduct three simulations to study the validity of IV-MASEM versus Univariate Meta-Analyses (UMA) and MASEMs that exclude IVs when the instruments were appropriate, inappropriate, and missing from a subset of primary studies. We also offer an illustrative study to demonstrate how to apply IV-MASEM to address endogeneity concerns in meta-analysis, which includes a new R function to test the qualifying conditions for IVs. We conclude with limitations and future directions for IV-MASEM.

Disentangling autonomy-supportive and psychologically controlling parenting: A meta-analysis of self-determination theory's dual process model across cultures.

Self-determination theory's (SDT) dual process model claims that parental autonomy support relates positively to child well-being, while psychologically controlling parenting is linked positively to child ill-being. We tested these claims using a combination of one-stage and univariate meta-analytic structural equation modeling with moderation (k = 238; n = 1,040, N = 126,423). In the univariate models, parental autonomy support was linked positively with child well-being, r = 0.30, 95% CI [0.26, 0.33], whereas parental psychological control was positively linked with child ill-being, r = 0.26, 95% CI [0.23, 0.28]. Consistent with SDT's dual process model, the one-stage model that controlled for the intercorrelations between predictors showed that parental autonomy support and psychological control had distinct links to child wellness outcomes. Parental autonomy support was linked positively with child well-being, even when accounting for psychological control, r = 0.26, 95% CI [0.20, 0.31], and parental psychological control was positively linked to child ill-being, controlling for autonomy support, r = 0.20, 95% CI [0.17, 0.23]. Crucially, the beneficial effects of parental autonomy support and the costs of psychological control applied across regions, degrees of national individualism and cultural hierarchy, as well as child developmental periods and sexes. These results help move the field beyond debates about whether autonomy is beneficial toward questions about manifestations of autonomy across groups and variations in its optimal support. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A Review of Meta-Analyses of Correlation Coefficients on L2 Reading Comprehension

Quantitative meta-analyses have gained popularity among L2 reading researchers in recent years. Meta-analyses, especially meta-analyses that investigate the relationships among variables (e.g., meta-analyses of correlation coefficients, meta-analytic structural equation modeling), are well-suited for L2 reading research due to their componential nature. The present study reviews 14 meta-analyses on L2 reading comprehension published between 2010 and 2023, with a focus on their key study features and findings. While all of the 14 meta-analyses examined the relationship between one or more reading-related variables and L2 reading comprehension and yielded substantial convergence in their findings, their research focus and scope also varied widely, leading to some level of diversity in their scope of literature search, methods of analysis, and findings. We review our findings on the convergence and divergence of the study features across the 14 meta-analyses, summarize their key findings, and provide suggestions for future research.

Understanding the influencing factors of foreign language teachers’ work engagement: A meta-analytic structural equation model

The work engagement of foreign language teachers enhances both their performance and the quality of instruction. Recent studies have highlighted the pivotal roles of emotional intelligence, job burnout, and self-efficacy in fostering teachers' work engagement. Despite this, the complex interactions between these factors in the context of foreign language teaching remain underexplored. This study conducts a meta-analytic review to examine the connections among work engagement, emotional intelligence, burnout, and self-efficacy among foreign language educators. Utilizing a chain mediation model, it probes the mechanism through which emotional intelligence impacts work engagement, based on an analysis of 49 scholarly articles. Results from the meta-analysis robustly validate the hypothesized model. Specifically, emotional intelligence contributes to work engagement via four distinct routes: direct mediation through self-efficacy, direct mediation through job burnout, and chain mediation involving self-efficacy and job burnout. Of the evaluated factors, emotional intelligence had the most significant impact on enhancing work engagement. Implications of these findings may facilitate the training and ongoing professional development of foreign language teachers.